I want to make a case for libraries that goes beyond 'free books.' Public libraries are one of the few remaining places in most cities where you can spend time without being required to consume anything. You can sit, think, read, work. Nobody is trying to sell you a coffee. The wi-fi is free.

The library where I grew up had a librarian who knew what every regular patron liked. She would have something set aside when I came in — 'I thought you might like this.' That's a service that no algorithm provides, because an algorithm doesn't know you, it knows your data. A librarian knows you.

The interlibrary loan system is the most remarkable part of the whole infrastructure. I can request a book from any participating library in the country and it shows up at my branch in two weeks. I've used it to read out-of-print books, small press novellas, academic texts. The whole system operates on the assumption that access to knowledge is a public good. I think that's correct.