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Librarians are dangerous | Hacker News

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The hacker culture of “information wants to be free” is largely predicated on the librarian mantras of the same sentiment and only given protection by western europe after clear and serious abuse. Librarians are the very forefront of information access and the privacy of looking up certain information, we owe them a lot. reply My aunt was the librarian at my elementary and middle school. I was a voracious reader, but I had a collegiate reading level since i was 6 or 7 and the books available to us in our school library just weren't cutting it. I also pined for more adult-oriented themes and plots. Out of sympathy, my aunt allowed me to access the "forbidden zone" of adult books of which our school apparently had a large cache, hidden in the back rooms. She didn't tell my guardians, and I can't overstate how important this was for me. I've always deeply admired her work and attitude towards information accessibility, and it left an indelible mark on me. reply I also dont get why wheneve

Librarians are dangerous | Hacker News Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login Librarians are dangerous ( bradmontague.substack.com ) 698 points by mooreds on April 19, 2025 | hide | past | favorite | 643 comments dijit on April 19, 2025 | next [–] I always found it interesting how hacker culture is largely propped up on the protections society has carved out for librarians following world war 2 (where certain sections of society had been identified based on what books they had looked at). The hacker culture of “information wants to be free” is largely predicated o

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