Quote:
Originally Posted by Katsunami
I do not agree with this author.
there would be NO WAY for me to have bought every reference book I've used in a library. It just can't be done. During my school / college period, I would needed to buy hundreds and hundreds of books, some to find only one or two reference in. The internet is (still) not a replacement for these books. Most people, schools and universities don't accept references to webpages (yet), as anybody can get anything onto the internet.
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and if the concept of libraries were undone, school and college libraries would be at risk too...
People who didn't want to support new libraries in the early days also argued that 'relatively few' would use them and bookstores would suffer. It was true, to a point, as neighborhoods without public libraries tended to have lower literacy rates
Lower literacy rates mean fewer potential customers at the bookstore too.
I think we need public libraries more than we ever have. He wouldn't have sold nearly as many books if kids hadn't read one or two from their school or public library and wanted more of them