Institute for Public Knowledge

On September 8, 2018, in The New York Times, IPK Director Eric Klinenberg pens an op-ed about the function of public libraries in society. Read an excerpt below and the full piece on The New York Times website.
Is the public library obsolete?
A lot of powerful forces in society seem to think so. In recent years, declines in the circulation of bound books in some parts of the country have led prominent critics to argue that libraries are no longer serving their historical function. Countless...

On August 23, 2018, in The New Yorker, IPK Director Eric Klinenberg shares an excerpt from his forthcoming book Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life, which will be published...

Image Credit: Specialist 2nd Class Stephane Belcher/U.S. Navy
By Rosalind Donald
Last month, in an attempt to deal with a critical shortage of bags of intravenous solution, the drug company Baxter extended the shelf life of several products. It’s the latest ripple in the health crisis Hurricane Maria set off in Puerto Rico. “Health...

On June 7, 2018, the IPK hosted “Beautiful Games? Putting the World Back in the World Cup,” a symposium with an all-star team of leading soccer scholars, scribes and talking heads discussing the global phenomenon that is the World Cup. This is the concluding...