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'September 2020. Melbourne is strangely quiet, streets nearly deserted. We are suspended in lockdown. All the libraries are closed. Parcels of new books stack up inside; the usual whirr of air conditioning and photocopiers is silent. The spaces normally packed with students, the elderly, readers, children and city workers sit empty. The book-return chutes are closed, overdue fines have been waived. Library staff are working from home or have been redeployed to other jobs. Librarians are a resourceful bunch; they have adapted to lockdown by moving children’s story-time sessions and English-language classes online. Library budgets have been shuffled to buy more ebooks, films and streaming audio content to answer the exponential surge in demand. Books have been posted out to eager readers stuck at home.' (Introduction)
Notes
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Epigraph: The same kind of shade and shelter that can be found in an aisle of books and an avenue of trees, and in the longevity of both, and the mere fact that both, if not butchered or burned, may outlive us. —Rebecca Solnit
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Meanjin
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- Melbourne, Victoria,
