Equal Respect: The Civic Engagement Libraries (Already) Perform for Democracy

Abstract

In this article, I seek to plumb the built-in civic engagement of libraries that sits alongside the efforts promoted in this issue. Key concepts are interrogated and democracy and democratic theory are the first, signaling the civic republican model of democracy and democratic citizenship, a model that is both old and durable, different from other forms of democratic theory. Second, modern conditions of democracy challenge the assumptions that civic republicanism rests on, leading to “polarization and cynicism.” How they manifest for libraries is next explored. Operating as libraries, libraries engage democratic civic life in an important if overlooked way: equal respect—what it is and what it isn’t and how it is made manifest in libraries from the library and information science literature. The concluding section ties together the strengths of libraries’ support for democratic society in this essential aspect of the public sphere.

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