Now here are some interesting and telling statistics. Who knew that they are more public libraries in the United States than there are MacDonalds'? Or that on average Americans go to libraries more than twice as often as they go to the movies in a year?
All this and Federal spending on libraries is 54 cents per person per year.
Does Karachi have more public libraries than MacDonalds? I'm not sure. Some digging around turns up this list of libraries which hearteningly enough, is more than the 13 outlets I seem to recall MacDonald's having in Karachi. But a few of the public libraries I've seen are to a proper public library as a bun-kabab stand is to a MacDonald's. Frere Hall, which is one of the better ones, alas has seen better days.
IZ
1 comment:
I think the statistic hides more than it reveals: I know there's substantial research on the history of public libraries in Britain (e.g. Thomas Kelly, A History of Public Libraries in Great Britain, 1845-1975),I'm not sure about the US (although there is a Journal of Library History). Questions which spring to mind include: are public libraries in decline, and how are they funded?
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