| Contemporary political discourse is dominated by Market Populism, which celebrates the cultural virtues of market exchange and sees little value in publicly supported institutions such as libraries. This article uses game theory to defend libraries against Market Populism. Libraries contribute to the political education of citizens in a democratic society by overcoming problems of collective action that an unregulated marketplace cannot resolve. Libraries also enrich the cultural choices available to their communities by counteracting the "winner take all" tendencies of the literary marketplace, which is distorted by network externalities, information asymmetries, and economies of scale. Librarians will be able defend and justify libraries better if they can respond effectively to economic arguments against them. They also should understand that libraries thrive best when they are embedded in a broader social network of cultural institutions that includes public schools and universities, and independent bookstores and publishers. |