I do find libraries interesting. The book is becoming less and less the chosen media from which to read text. The libraries are wed to this one way of reading books. They're starting to become more creative. They've expanded to audiobooks. Some are hosting Maker Spaces. But overall they've becoming state financed ghostly and empty shells devoid of function. I think that's a shame. When I was a kid I did not have peace and quiet at home. I came from a very chaotic home. Libraries was a refuge for me.
I think we should convert libraries to a sort of temples of reading. Contemplative calm spaces in an urban environment, where people can read whatever they bring.
Because libraries do NOT need to provide books anymore. Nobody needs a library for that. They should be spaces for reading. Not finding books.
I don't know. I agree that the value proposition of the book has definitely changed since the rise of the internet, but there is
a lot of information in paper books. And in that way libraries act as a centralized collection that really can't be acquired any other way. Fewer people are making use of those collections, but really - was there ever a massive market for libraries? It's definitely shrunk, but I don't think there's ever been groups of 19 year olds headed to the library on a Saturday night.
I'm a good case in point - I've been making use of the libraries at the University of Western Ontario for three years. Their collection is among the best in the world, and I'm literally a different person because of my access to it. Does the lack of a high quantity of people making use of it negate it's value for the few people who do? When we no longer have access to the great books of the last century something major will be lost.
And the thing is - new academic scholarship is now being created at a faster pace than it ever was before. Without these books on a library shelf, they'll be entirely inaccessible.
To me the library isn't something we do because of some scientific formula with some type of impact on society for the good, it's something we do because books are fantastic, and it's great to make them available.