Today's Quote: The Case Against Libraries

Roanoke City Library

"Because it's been 150 years, we've got this idea that we've got an entitlement to read, at the expense of authors, publishers and council tax payers. This is not the Victorian age, when we wanted to allow the impoverished access to literature. We pay for compulsory schooling to do that.

"Books aren't public property, and writers aren't Enid Blyton, middle-class women indulging in a pleasant little hobby. They've got to make a living. Authors, booksellers and publishers need to eat. We don't expect to go to a food library to be fed."

--Author Terry Dreary here