Libraries and the Enlightenment

This monograph by Princeton University religion and philosophy librarian Bivens-Tatum examines the Enlightenment concepts of academic and intellectual process and rigor and explores how Enlightenment philosophy about education and politics has played a key role in the development of both research and public library traditions in the United States. Refreshing in an era when public discourse often extols a partisan pride in rank ignorance, this small volume reminds readers that the core enlightenment principles relied upon in the founding of the nation have produced a system of intellectual rigor and egalitarian access to knowledge that would have greatly pleased the great thinkers of the eighteenth century. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)