Guyanonymous, I agree, the service/social aspect is important. I keep thinking about an article I read about the renovation of several library branches in my community where the librarian they quoted said that in her view, libraries are not just 'repositories for books' but rather 'community meeting places.' They started focusing on things like running seminars on how to do research, how to use the computer, what resources are available for people new to the community etc. and providing a hub for where people could have meetings with their community groups and yes, get books
I read another article on libraries where a different librarian said they love ebooks because there is no late fees, no manpower required to shelve and catalogue them etc. so this leaves the librarians free to focus their time on other efforts.
I think book stores could benefit from this approach and view their stores as community meeting places. Sell/trade used books, offer sample copies of new books that people can print on demand or download, provide a space for author events or writing groups or other similar community organizations etc. They could do very well in the digital age by using this approach and some judicious co-branding on the level of branded cookies in the coffee shop etc.