Library Accessibility In a Pandemic: What is accessibility when you can’t access it?

Curated Library

COVID-19 is not the great equalizer, as Madonna announced from her milk and rose petal bath. But perhaps, libraries could be.

Library access may seem a small matter as more than 100,000 coronavirus deaths expose the delicate lattice of America’s systems, the U.S. unemployment rate rockets toward 20%, and as police spray peaceful protestors with chemical weapons that have been banned in warfare. In the midst of all this, we are living in a Digital Dark Age in which the rich pay to have their private libraries curated and the poor are technologically barred from borrowing library books during quarantine. In many communities, public libraries are the last bastion of social support, hiring on social workers to meet the influx of homeless patrons and others in crisis. The pandemic has exacerbated the torn economic disparities that our local libraries invisibly mend everyday. When virtually no free secular public spaces remain, libraries play a role as integral to a community’s health as schools and hospitals. Fortunately I can still access the library with my Kindle e-reader while quarantining at home. I have a laptop and internet access. But not all are so fortunate. For this reason, we need to increase federal funding for libraries in order to put a smartphone, e-reader, and laptop in the hands of every…