Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew H.
This is true enough. But in a democracy you have to justify expenditures, and convincing the 80% of people who don't read much that they should pay $150/year to subsidize the reading habits of others can be a hard sell. I'm amazed that libraries have done as well as they have, frankly.
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I don't think it's really that much of a mystery. My taxes (if I had a job and paid taxes) would go to many thing I don't use: roads on the other side of the county, schools my non-existent kids don't go to, parks I don't frequent, etc. If we paid only for the services we use, then there would be many things that wouldn't get paid for at all, and we would all suffer as a result.
The reason all of these things exist even though a large percentage of a region's population may never use them is because we see very clear advantages in having them exist. Libraries do so many things. They create life-long reading habits in children, provide immigrants with free books for learning English, give students a place to study and material to study with and do research, offer free internet access (access to a computer and the internet has become a necessity, no longer a luxury, in our society), etc. etc. etc.