After two unrelated acts of violence were perpetrated in libraries over the last two days, I am close to giving up hope for our public. Sure, I sit in the back of the class and throw out the occasional remark, but I have hope for this country and us as a species. Until things like this happen. The first is the UT shooting in the campus library in Austin this morning. The second is the police shooting of a fleeing suspect who just happened to run inside a public library.
This hurts me. From an early age I was taught to respect the library as a place of freedom and knowledge. Going into the library was similar to going into church: you were to be quiet, respectful, and attempt to learn something. Part of this blog and twitter is me finding humor in the disrespect I and others show of this great system, but make no mistake, I wholeheartedly back the public library system and libraries as a whole. Often flawed, as most human endeavors are, the idea of the free public library makes this world better. When that image is tainted by blood and violence, I find this world that much darker.
My sympathies go out to all those affected by these horrible tragedies.
Texas University shooting
Philadelphia police officer shoots knife-wielding robbery suspect in Olney library
