The Invisible Library

Barbarians at the Gates of the Public Library:

At the time of their inception in the nineteenth century, public libraries were seen as critical institutions in the creation of a free and democratic society. The public library was conceived as a “people’s university”: a university that was open to everyone. But the purpose of this people’s university was not, as has come to be the case today, to merely train people to become more productive workers, let alone to entertain them. The purpose was to educate people to function responsibly as free and equal citizens in an enlightened democracy. Thus, the current decadent state of our public libraries reflects the state of the culture at large. In writing about the condition of public libraries I mean to open discussion on broader social and cultural issues as well.

I’ll be reading the whole thing over the next few weeks and commenting on it as I go But what I’ve read so far is spot on.

Thanks to Siva Vaidhyanathan for the link.

Via BoingBoing, I found this intriguing little gem: a re-edit of Planet of the Apes as an episode of the Twilight Zone:

When I first started gathering information about POTA, I was surprised to learn that Rod Serling co-wrote the screenplay for Planet. Then suddenly it all made sense. “Of course! Planet is a two-hour episode of The Twilight Zone!”

That idea stuck in the back of my head ever since. Then with the recent advances in digital filmmaking technology and especially after reading about fan edits (particularly the couple of Star Wars: Episode I edits that surfaced), another thought struck me: “Wouldn’t it be cool to take Planet and edit it down into a thirty minute episode of The Twilight Zone, complete with Rod Serling narration?” I knew the project would take a lot of patience to assemble the pieces, but once I got them together, it would be great fun to create the final product.

Technology is letting us do some really interesting things. Sure, they violate copyright laws but those laws are the sorts of things that are just begging to be violated. They’re draconian, stifling and all serve the corporate mass marketers rather than the creators they were originally designed to protect. So, if being an artist in the 21st century means being a pirate too, well then all I have to say is, “Argh, Matey!”