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I've lived in several different places/countries over the years and one of the first things I've done in every place I've been is join the local library. I don't think there's been a month gone by since I was 8 years old that I wasn't a library member somewhere.
I've shared the checkout counter with kids just barely able to walk and seniors in the same situation. They've taken me from mammoths in the Ice Age to superdreadnoughts in the Honorverse. They've given me a knowledge repository which has taught me about history, literature, geography, economics, law, politics, data processing and any other subject I cared to learn about. I've seen them run reading classes for pre-schoolers, computer classes for seniors, employment classes for those in need, local history classes for residents, travelogues for wanderers - all with a level of knowledge, courtesy and skill rarely found in any other single institution.
The public lending library is one of the great inventions and great social institutions of the modern age. Anyone, corporation or individual, who intends to damage or undercut the provision of the books they lend or the services they provide, particularly in the ruthless pursuit of the almighty dollar, is a Philistine of the first order who deserves to be excoriated by anyone who cares about the society they live in. And if they want to take that particular part of society back to the middle ages then I'd be happy to see them excoriated in the literal sense of the term.
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