Case for a quiet, well-lit, free space to read, reflect

The Khirki branch of Delhi's Community Library Project is filled with books for people of all ages, provides computers with internet for those who lack access at home, offers story time and literacy programs for children, and offers evening-hour operations to working people who need a quiet place to read and work when homes are loud and crowded.

- Emily Drabinski

Like many public libraries in the United States (US), Khirki also responds to material needs beyond the book, offering clean drinking water, washrooms, and even food—bananas in the morning, biscuits in the afternoon—to address the gap in access to basic human necessities produced by systematic and longstanding disinvestment in the people by the governments we elect.

All this good work is underpinned by a singular structural commitment—the library is free. It is free to use and free to join. Book borrowing is free. Computer use is free. Water and food are free. Anyone can walk through the gates into the vibrant courtyard and use the library. The Khirki community library serves the public. That public must include everyone if it is to live up to its purpose. When libraries charge fees, their use becomes restricted to the subset of people who can afford to pay. When libraries limit use by gender, race, class, religion or caste, they cannot, in any meaningful sense, be called public. When libraries are impossible to access due to distance or disrepair, only the people who live nearby, and who can afford transit fares, are served. In each case, a public good—the library—is privatized, limiting its use only to those who can afford it.