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If you haven't been near your public library's internet area for a while, you should go--it is an eye opener to see not only that they are full to capacity, but

If you haven't been near your public library's internet area for a while, you should go--it is an eye opener to see not only that they are full to capacity, but also that there is often a wait list involved.

wjossey 10y ago
I was in Boston last week on business, and I took a meeting at the Boston Public Library downtown in Copley. I had the exact same thought walking through that area on a Saturday morning. It was packed (although not quite to capacity). I casually observed what was on screens, and it was everything from Facebook, to games, to Wikipedia.
- nck4222 10y ago
  I suppose I haven't been to many large main branch libraries, but the BPL main branch is amazing to me. The building itself is incredible but the services they provide are top notch. It hosts great scheduled talks/discussions (for instance on Tuesday Neil Gaiman will be there for an on-stage interview). The quiet workspaces are great places to get work done, and something about the architecture/interior/history really helps keep one motivated while there. Maybe this is normal for every state but any resident of MA is eligible to get a library card. It's worth it for the digital rentals alone. They also host free tours of the building, which I haven't done yet but have been meaning to.
- AznHisoka 10y ago
  Used to remember when my public library would kick you out if you did anything that wasn't research-related. Now I see people playing Minecraft and browsing FB on library computers...
- dredmorbius 10y ago
  So long as we're showering love on libraries, the Boston Public Library was the first municipal public library in the United States, established in 1848. http://www.bpl.org/general/history.htm http://www.bpl.org/general/history.htm On a vaguely related note, in looking up information on production and copyright of books within the US a few months back, I dug through the history of the Library of Congress, and specifically the Librarian's annual report to Congress on the state and status of the library, dating to about 1860. It's quite the trip. The Library, Internet Archive, and Hathi Trust have most of the reports, in scanned PDFs. (Flying my library freak flag....)
germinalphrase 10y ago
My local library is the same. Absolutely packed in the afternoon/evening until close. Lots of teenagers. Many just doing fun internet stuff (games, social media, etc.) - but also getting pulled aside for homework help and tutoring. Pretty awesome community space.
deleted 10y ago
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baby 10y ago
On the other hand, just moved to London. Went to two libraries: * one had a really bad internet you would activate by asking for a coupon, it would then be limited to 500MB * the other one had no internet if you did not have a library card For someone who spends a lot of time in libraries to work, I found it really sad :(
- stinkytaco 10y ago
  London England, I assume, not Ontario? European libraries are really nothing like American ones, at least the few I've been to. They are still very much in the "books and only books" mindset that American libraries were at 50 years ago. It's funny, too, because libraries are such an American institution that you'd think the power of tradition would be fairly strong here. Perhaps the constant fight for funding and relevance has propelled their evolution.
  - nvarsj 10y ago
    Libraries in London are very much like libraries in the U.S. My local library (in London) has many internet computers, which are always full as the OP described. Library has wifi too but the quality is not so great. It's sort of ironic, because it's the library in Tim Berners Lee's hometown, and even has a big WWW plaque outside it. You'd expect it to have the best internet ever :).
    - baby 10y ago
      I haven't been here long enough to really judge (I've only checked the libraries in Clapham Junction and Clapham Common), but I can see a contradiction here: > Libraries in London are very much like libraries in the U.S. > Library has wifi too but the quality is not so great When I was living in Canada, libraries would be open 24/7 during exams. That was just... incredible. In France you're lucky if you have restrooms in the library.
    - krallja 10y ago
      > it's the library in Tim Berners Lee's hometown, and even has a big WWW plaque outside it It's on shared copper, just like most of us were when www was invented, for historical accuracy.

wjossey 10y ago

I was in Boston last week on business, and I took a meeting at the Boston Public Library downtown in Copley. I had the exact same thought walking through that area on a Saturday morning. It was packed (although not quite to capacity). I casually observed what was on screens, and it was everything from Facebook, to games, to Wikipedia.

nck4222 10y ago
I suppose I haven't been to many large main branch libraries, but the BPL main branch is amazing to me. The building itself is incredible but the services they provide are top notch. It hosts great scheduled talks/discussions (for instance on Tuesday Neil Gaiman will be there for an on-stage interview). The quiet workspaces are great places to get work done, and something about the architecture/interior/history really helps keep one motivated while there. Maybe this is normal for every state but any resident of MA is eligible to get a library card. It's worth it for the digital rentals alone. They also host free tours of the building, which I haven't done yet but have been meaning to.
AznHisoka 10y ago
Used to remember when my public library would kick you out if you did anything that wasn't research-related. Now I see people playing Minecraft and browsing FB on library computers...
dredmorbius 10y ago
So long as we're showering love on libraries, the Boston Public Library was the first municipal public library in the United States, established in 1848. http://www.bpl.org/general/history.htm http://www.bpl.org/general/history.htm On a vaguely related note, in looking up information on production and copyright of books within the US a few months back, I dug through the history of the Library of Congress, and specifically the Librarian's annual report to Congress on the state and status of the library, dating to about 1860. It's quite the trip. The Library, Internet Archive, and Hathi Trust have most of the reports, in scanned PDFs. (Flying my library freak flag....)

germinalphrase 10y ago

My local library is the same. Absolutely packed in the afternoon/evening until close. Lots of teenagers. Many just doing fun internet stuff (games, social media, etc.) - but also getting pulled aside for homework help and tutoring. Pretty awesome community space.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

baby 10y ago

On the other hand, just moved to London. Went to two libraries: * one had a really bad internet you would activate by asking for a coupon, it would then be limited to 500MB * the other one had no internet if you did not have a library card For someone who spends a lot of time in libraries to work, I found it really sad :(

stinkytaco 10y ago
London England, I assume, not Ontario? European libraries are really nothing like American ones, at least the few I've been to. They are still very much in the "books and only books" mindset that American libraries were at 50 years ago. It's funny, too, because libraries are such an American institution that you'd think the power of tradition would be fairly strong here. Perhaps the constant fight for funding and relevance has propelled their evolution.
- nvarsj 10y ago
  Libraries in London are very much like libraries in the U.S. My local library (in London) has many internet computers, which are always full as the OP described. Library has wifi too but the quality is not so great. It's sort of ironic, because it's the library in Tim Berners Lee's hometown, and even has a big WWW plaque outside it. You'd expect it to have the best internet ever :).
  - baby 10y ago
    I haven't been here long enough to really judge (I've only checked the libraries in Clapham Junction and Clapham Common), but I can see a contradiction here: > Libraries in London are very much like libraries in the U.S. > Library has wifi too but the quality is not so great When I was living in Canada, libraries would be open 24/7 during exams. That was just... incredible. In France you're lucky if you have restrooms in the library.
  - krallja 10y ago
    > it's the library in Tim Berners Lee's hometown, and even has a big WWW plaque outside it It's on shared copper, just like most of us were when www was invented, for historical accuracy.