If America appears fractured at the national level, the author suggests, it can be mended at the local one. This is an engrossing, timely, hopeful read, nothing less than a new lens through which to view the world and its current conflicts.” — Booklist (starred) Race: Klinenberg delves into the shared social spaces that either create and entrench racial segregation or encourage mixed communities, looking at historical divisions in cities like Chicago, New York, and Baltimore—and the contemporary organizations and institutions like public libraries and pools that are bridging racial divides and fostering cohesion.

He has a strange obsession with Silicon Valley. I’m not sure it deserves as much attention as it gets in the book.

Too often, we hear about how he was visiting this or that other city while writing another book, making you wonder just how rigorous his research was. As a career public librarian, I often had this thought. Traditional conservatism of the kind that favored localism over centralization has morphed into an antipathy to government at all levels. This radical anti-civic ideology is what the "Reagan revolution" accomplished: spreading the belief that "government can do no good" at any level whatsoever.

Like many readers, I'm obsessed with libraries. They are one of my favorite to work and study and at this point in my life, having had to move several times, I'd much rather just get books at the library rather than own them. This book shows how libraries and other public spaces can be important for things beyond their described purpose. Good social infrastructure can be crucial for reducing crime and bring together people who normally wouldn't interact. I have person experience with this. I go to college at the University of Minnesota. The campus comes right up to the edge of downtown Minneapolis, a city that's been in the news a lot recently for obvious and important reasons. One of my favorite places to go was Minneapolis Central library. This library is in the heart of the city and draws in every type of person who lives in the city. Even though my campus is very close to downtown, it's still very separate. It is the public library that gives me my best connection to the people that live in the city around me. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR •“Engaging.”—Mayor Pete Buttigieg, The New York Times Book Review(Editors’ Choice)And yet -- with their rugged, self-help-through-self-education ethos that is as American as Benjamin Franklin -- public libraries are an increasingly anomalous feature in a political landscape that--seemingly, and increasingly--wants to raze the very idea on which they rest: that the government can and should invest public money in cultural infrastructure for the improvement of citizens' lives. Or, as Klinenberg muses parenthetically, "(If, today, the library didn't already exist, it's hard to imagine our society's leaders inventing it.)" The systems we build in coming years will tell future generations who we are and how we see the world today. If we fail to bridge our gaping social divisions, they may even determine whether that “we” continues to exist. Today, nations around the world are poised to spend trillions of dollars on vital infrastructure projects that we need to get through the twenty- first century and beyond. Before we lift the next shovel, we should know what we want to improve, what we need to protect, and, more important, what kind of society we want to create for our post-COVID 19 world. Living in a place like East New York requires developing coping strategies, and for many residents, the more vulnerable older and younger ones in particular, the key is to find safe havens. As on every other Thursday morning this spring, today nine middle-aged and elderly residents who might otherwise stay home alone will gather in the basement of the neighborhood’s most heavily used public amenity, the New Lots branch library. The elderly can also participate in some of these activities in senior centers, but there they can do them only with other old people, and often that makes them feel stigmatized, as if old is all they are. For many seniors, the library is the main place they interact with people from other generations.” Palaces for the People: can social infrastructure fight inequality and the decline in civic life? Laurie Taylor talks to the American sociologist, Eric Klinenberg. They’re joined by Kate Pahl, Professor of Arts and Literacy at Manchester Metropolitan University and Katie Williams, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments at the University of the West of England.