[T]he fundamental principle of American librarianship has been free and
equal access to all users. This principle has served as a democratic
bulwark. The library, for all its marginality, represented and put into
at least limited practice the democratic aspirations of the nation.
-- Herbert I. Schiller. Culture Inc.: The Corporate Takeover
of Public Expression NY: Oxford University Press (1989). Chapter 4:
"Privatization and Commercialization of the Public Sector: Information and
Education."