John E. Buschman on customer-driven librarianship

“Librarianship – which has prided itself on its vital role in democracy – is turning that credo into empty lip service through its avid adoption of the customer-driven model and in the process chipping away at what remains of the public sphere in our institutions…”

“In the end, customer-driven librarianship contributes to the changeover from “a democracy of citizens [to] a democracy of consumers” because it is only those who can “vote” with money or tax support who are meaningfully addressed by libraries. Henry Giroux contends that “within this new public philosophy there is a ruthlessly frank expression of doubt about the viability of democracy” and a ‘disdain [for] the democratic implications of pluralism.’”

John E. Buschman, Dismantling the Public Sphere