Quote:
Originally Posted by Giggleton
I think you are confusing book sellers with librarians. In recent years many public libraries have taken on the appearance of retail book shops though.
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I think it depends on where you live -- big city of rural town. My local library does not sell books except during an annual 'fire sale,' hosted by the local Friends of the Library group, which is mainly used to eliminate the many books donated by estates that are duplicates or outdated references. There is also a finite limit on shelf space. The money is mostly used to re-bind books and purchase new ones.
Yes, they do offer computers for net-surfing. Our poverty base is rather large, and many people cannot afford either a computer and/or the expense of network access, and the computer desks are usually full and time-limited.
And, with all due respect, I'll stand by my comment that a librarian is an equal source of direction than all but the independently owned bookseller. We do not have a bookstore in town, and a BAM is a 50 mile round-trip with minimal staff and little expertise. I think you are confusing a good local bookseller with the typically understaffed mega-store. I wish we had a good bookseller, but there are none withing 100 miles.
