Libraries and War

From a Fascinating Article in Library Trends' Winter 2007 Issue Learn About:


Papers [that] were invited on themes such as the following:

* Books and libraries as agents of cultural memory to be protected, appropriated, or obliterated
* Library collections and services as instruments of political power in providing or withholding access to information
* Libraries as places of refuge, solace, and practical help in times of war, revolution, and social change
* Libraries and their contents as cultural patrimony and as booty
* The nature of the revolutionary cultural and political regimes in which libraries are situated and the attitudes of the regimes to literacy and learning
* And the responsibilities of the international community in creating and enforcing policies and procedures for the protection, reconstitution, and restitution of cultural artifacts, including books and libraries

I sat and considered how as military spending increases during the Iraq War certain libraries, like the EPA suffered difficult cut backs.

Reflection on the above article is welcomed.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1387/is_3_55/ai_n19311164