Jeff Bezos Should Put His Billions Into Libraries

Advocacy | Philanthropy | Public Libraries

by Susan Crawford | Backchannel | 09 August 2017

Ira Gay Sealy/Getty Images

 

Imagine that you are Jeff Bezos. For four hours two weeks ago, you were the richest person in the world. And though Wall Street knocked you down a notch, pretty much everyone thinks it’s inevitable that you’re going to be number one again. You’re starting to be aware of the smell of the tar pits and you’re casting about for a way to put all that loot to some good. You're eying the Gates-Buffet Giving Pledge and thinking that if you donate half your fortune it should make a difference. You're comfortable with making older but meaningful institutions great again.

 

So far, you’ve concentrated on things that might benefit our distant successors—space travel, cancer treatments, AI, and a clock that will keep running for 10,000 years. But you want to do something more immediate. You say you want your philanthropic activity “to be helping people in the here and now—short term—at the intersection of urgent need and lasting impact.” You are open to suggestions–so much so that you even recently tweeted a “request for ideas.”  Read more...