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Libraries where I live are generally fairly well-used. But they do cost something, and have to compete with other city services, like police, firefighters, community hospitals, sidewalks, parks, etc. - all basically coming from the same pools of tax money, which is shrinking.
There can also be specific local issues: several years ago, my city approved a massive $100 million expansion of our downtown library; $50 million came from private funds and $50 million came from the city. But due to some bad decision making on the part of the library board, the total cost ended up being $150 million, with the city now having to pay out $100 million for the library. Consequently, hours have been cut, staff has been cut, and I assume books have also been cut (although we do have 7,000 ebooks available). While of course a lot of people do still support the library, people also feel burned by the fiasco and there's not a lot of sympathy or public will to increase funding for it.
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