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I too have lived much of my life in places with no library. My junior high school library was done in a "protect the books" style. I rarely had access, though I could see through the windows that there were a lot of books in there. The high school library had very little in it, though the librarian encouraged us to use it well. There was no city library. Libraries in other towns were far away and cost money. There were NEVER enough books in my world. And I was a kid whose parents taught me to read early, and strongly encouraged me to devour what books I did have. I remember loving the first day of school, because they give you a whole stack of new textbooks. But by a few weeks into the term they were used up, and now what?
The WWW wasn't invented until I was in my 20s. And I didn't have my own computer until around that time.
It's fabulous being a grownup, living in a place with a big library, and having the transportation to get there easily. But now that I have the internet, I could also live without that library. And I don't have the hours and hours to read, that I had as a kid, so I don't consume books like I once did. My current level of library access is wasted on me. I wish I could give it to my younger self.
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