Quote:
Originally Posted by JeremyR
The trouble is, at least where I live, libraries have long ago stopped focusing on books, but renting movies, providing internet access (providing computers, not just a hotspot), renting video games and whatnot.
Why should a publicly funded place directly compete with video rental stores/services? Or internet cafes?
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We have had a service here where local libraries "share" books, so you can order a book and it will be delivered to your local library. The funding is also used for our excellent State Library which is vast, but still keeps an even larger library in storage. Order books in the morning and they will be ready for you in an hour or so. Sure, there are novels and some videos in local libraries. Lots of audio books. The libraries also run courses in everything from genealogy to mental health. If your local library is full of trash - who is to blame? If you don't give really good funding or jump up and down and protest whenever this service is cheapened or downgraded then libraries will degenerate. You get what you pay for.