"Men who cannot exploit the co-operative benefits derived from institutions in modern knowledge economies are discriminated against by girls and so have fewer children"

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At the 1894 ALA conference it was fairly well agreed that the primary goal of the public library must be to teach good citizenship. Libraries recognized that such "Americanization" could be achieved through literacy. Thus, teaching immigrants to read was not just a benefit in and of itself; literacy would also serve the interests of democracy.

— Kevin Mattson