Sometimes I feel like just about the last man on earth who uses a public library to check out books. I do this because I love books, and have a tendency to overbuy, and have overflowing shelves - and then some of the books just aren’t good, and I have the damn things. Libraries keep my collecting instinct in check.
But now they are more like computer labs and a place to sleep. I’ve seen several that even offer free meals, and are ‘shelters’ in winter - to get people out of cold weather. They have also installed self check-out stations, but still employ people at a desk to check books out for you - and they’re just hanging out all day. The reference librarians have nothing to do at all so far as I can tell.
Anyway - this is all going to end soon. Cities aren’t going to fund it because no one is using it for what it’s for. I find it a little depressing to watch it decline bit by bit - when these institutions once served as places that could help people in their autodidact adventures to get educations that were otherwise out of reach.
But now they are more like computer labs and a place to sleep. I’ve seen several that even offer free meals, and are ‘shelters’ in winter - to get people out of cold weather. They have also installed self check-out stations, but still employ people at a desk to check books out for you - and they’re just hanging out all day. The reference librarians have nothing to do at all so far as I can tell.
Anyway - this is all going to end soon. Cities aren’t going to fund it because no one is using it for what it’s for. I find it a little depressing to watch it decline bit by bit - when these institutions once served as places that could help people in their autodidact adventures to get educations that were otherwise out of reach.
Sometimes I feel like just about the last man on earth who uses a public library to check out books. I do this because I love books, and have a tendency to overbuy, and have overflowing shelves - and then some of the books just aren’t good, and I have the damn things. Libraries keep my collecting instinct in check.
But now they are more like computer labs and a place to sleep. I’ve seen several that even offer free meals, and are ‘shelters’ in winter - to get people out of cold weather. They have also installed self check-out stations, but still employ people at a desk to check books out for you - and they’re just hanging out all day. The reference librarians have nothing to do at all so far as I can tell.
Anyway - this is all going to end soon. Cities aren’t going to fund it because no one is using it for what it’s for. I find it a little depressing to watch it decline bit by bit - when these institutions once served as places that could help people in their autodidact adventures to get educations that were otherwise out of reach.
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