I really loved the local library in the 80s/very early 90s (as a kid without network access). I probably spent like 20-25 hours per week there.

Now when I visit it's always meh. They have sacrificed breadth and density for "curation" and "experience spaces".

The space between the book shelves seems to have almost doubled. Why?

Bring back super high dense book shelving filled with interesting stuff.

My local library was much denser as a child as well.

Except that's because the library was tiny. The denseness was a necessity and the library was constantly trying to get rid of books to make room for newer books.

Thankfully they eventually replaced that tiny library with a much bigger one. And the one we live near now is also much bigger and much better. I think the kids section of the library is probably double the size of the entire library we had growing up, with more books as well.

Probably depends on if your local community - which includes you! - has valued (and funded) libraries. Ours is really well done.

Yep. My local library when I was a kid I get to on my bike, and I looked for books on computing topics. I ended up with a book that was a compilation of articles from Dr. Dobb's Journal.

In the late 90s, there was a cornucopia of amazing books available - one was on programming Windows, and came complete with a CD in the back with a fully working copy of Visual Studio C++ 1.52.

I decided to poke into the library my kids go to for story time and see what computer books there were. It was truly bleak. There was really nothing that would bring back the sense of discovery I had as a kid going to the library.

> The space between the book shelves seems to have almost doubled. Why?

Accessibility is probably a factor, narrow spaces are hard to navigate with a wheelchair.

> Bring back super high dense book shelving filled with interesting stuff.

Sure thing but your community would have to pay insignificantly more in local taxes

My local library on the other hand got a lot better.