Shane Maloney

Shane Maloney: In Praise of Shoosh

Libraries are places where books talk to each other. But are their seductive whisperings in danger of being drowned out by the roar of phone-using, iPod wearing, internet surfing hordes? Does the managerialist demand for ever-expanding patronage threaten the very purpose of libraries? Do libraries still have a purpose? Is a bit of quiet too much to expect?

Holder of four library cards, Shane Maloney will reflect on the role of libraries in his experience as a reader and a writer, and speculate on their fate in the face of a culture with little regard for the values they embody.