| ▲ | sergiotapia 3 hours ago |
| Libraries are one the most beloved things america really got right. Such a great value and use of tax money. |
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| ▲ | rahimnathwani 3 hours ago | parent | next [-] |
| In San Francisco, the annual library budget is ~$200,000,000. That's about $10/month for each San Francisco resident (including babies, elderly people etc.). |
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| ▲ | apparent 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Some of the services end up being very expensive, like ebook lending. Some publishers basically charge libraries per loan ($X for an ebook that lasts Y loans), so while it is nice for residents it's not clear that it's a good value, or that it's a good use of tax money. I once heard from a knowledgeable source that most of library lending is bodice rippers. These are available from Amazon/etc. pretty cheaply, which undercuts the value argument. And of course, there's practically no social value of providing the public with free bodice rippers... I'd be interested to know more about the economics of lending DVDs and Blu-rays. Hopefully libraries get a better deal on these. |
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| ▲ | triceratops 3 hours ago | parent [-] | | > And of course, there's practically no social value of providing the public with free bodice rippers... Why not? > Some of the services end up being very expensive, like ebook lending We need something like a first-sale doctrine for electronic media. Blockchains would be ideal for tracking ownership. | | |
| ▲ | apparent 2 hours ago | parent [-] | | If most of lending were made up of educational texts, there would be a social value. Some people describe bodice rippers as porn for women, and people get addicted to them in the same way they get addicted to porn. Would a library ever lend porn out? I'm guessing no, because of the lack of social value. To the extent that bodice rippers are like porn, the same rationale would apply. |
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| ▲ | dylan604 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-] |
| If everyone used the library as much as people say they are great, their shelves would be empty. Libraries have to be some of the most underutilized services. |
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| ▲ | BeetleB 2 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | When it comes to recent popular movies, the wait times can be over 6 months. I'm usually number 480 on the waitlist or something. I wouldn't call that underutilized. :-) | |
| ▲ | WCSTombs 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | In my experience, there can be pretty high contention for certain items, so you need to be on the ball or make use of the "place hold" feature judiciously. Yeah, people are using the service. | |
| ▲ | dingaling 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Sadly, libraries in UK towns have very little shelf space left and what's on them is usually mass-market fiction, biography or very old non-fiction. Honestly isn't worth the effort to visit my local one, unless I want to join a crochet club or do 'mindfulness' jigsaws. |
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