More than books: The social capital of libraries

📍The Tent
Language accessibility: The text is in English; the meeting will be conducted in Czech.
Reading: Selected chapters from Rachel Carolyn Bindman, Beyond Books: How Public Libraries are a Crucial Form of Social Infrastructure (2024), and Eckerdal et al., “Social Infrastructuring in Public Libraries: Librarians’ Continuous Care in Everyday Library Practice” (2024)

Free entry

What are libraries in our world? And why do people still visit them, often for more than just books? A library has never been just a place to borrow books. It is a space for gathering, a refuge from loneliness, a place for learning, relaxation, and informal care. It belongs to the category of so-called “third places”—spaces between home and work that foster relationships, trust, and a sense of belonging. Through several complementary texts, we will reflect on the library as part of society’s social infrastructure. We will explore how libraries generate social capital and why their significance often extends beyond merely fulfilling informational needs. What forms of support, care, and civic life take place in libraries? And what would happen if these spaces were to disappear? The goal of this group reading is to view the library not only as an institution but as a public good—a place that helps hold a divided society together.