"Getting rid of physical books because we now have databases is like getting rid of sunshine because of the existence of vitamin-D pills and cod liver oil." --love that.
a cogent plea for keeping physical libraries available:
https://scottlocklin.wordpress.com/2023/07/28/death-of-the-physical-library/
@brewsterkahle
As mentioned before, a library is more than just a place for books, it is a place to meet, socialise, swap ideas, study alone or with other people. A place to get hold of journals, magazines and much more.
Use your local library or lose it, when budget decisions are made based on footfall and usage.
When they dose the last public library, nothing of value will have been lost.
Not all libraries are the same, hopefully the good libraries will adapt, thrive and continue to do a good job serving their communities.
@teknomunk @hazlin @brewsterkahle you miss the point. It’s important to feed the mode where you don’t know what you are looking for. The comparable behaviour on the internet leads to very different sorts of material, and favours forgetting over remembering.
Not really. Advocate for having material you find to be useful be available to others, so they can have access to things they otherwise wouldn't have. Sure, those particular books are things you are familiar with (if you didn't know of their existence how could you recommend them?) But they are probably new for the other patrons.
If you lament the poor state of a library collection, help push it in a better direction.
@teknomunk @hazlin you perhaps misunderstand. This is (was?) an academic library. It formed me intellectually. I looked at books and journals whose existence I would never have suspected. I never recommended them to others. It was a very personal experience, one which can’t be replicated online.
> a good job
Last time I checked, they are degrading. Ebay is literally being flooded with books you could only find in a library, that are being sold for near the cost of shipping, because they are being thrown out.
I'm the sort of person that, takes my time, and looks at books in every section. And, right now, I can tell you libraries and book stores are gutted of anything useful or meaningful. They are just another space that has been transformed into a propaganda center.
Propping up failing public libraries, is just spending money on state approved propaganda.
Used book stores are the only places that still have some value. Especially those that will give ignorant inheritors cash for a priceless collection that you can't even ebay lol.