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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

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.
Spooky23 10y ago
Libraries are alive and well. The problem as exhibited by threads like this is that America has been infected by selfishness and cynicism. Since having my son I really have had my eyes open to the value of libraries. As a resource for learning, community, and programming, they are immensely valuable. You look around in my urban branch library and you see people of all ages, backgrounds. They are reading, playing, socializing, working. That's what America is supposed to be about.
kalleboo 10y ago
The last time I went to a library was in Sweden, and it was a fantastic library. They had all the multimedia stuff you could want - wifi, internet computers, a "media lab" for audio/video/music editing/XCode, digital media rentals, plenty of study areas in a gorgeous area with panoramic windows onto a park https://1001libraries.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/malmocitylibrary_joakim_raboff.jpg https://1001libraries.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/malmocityl... The computer/wifi access does require a library card, but that doesn't seem to onerous to me.

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.

Spooky23 10y ago

Libraries are alive and well. The problem as exhibited by threads like this is that America has been infected by selfishness and cynicism. Since having my son I really have had my eyes open to the value of libraries. As a resource for learning, community, and programming, they are immensely valuable. You look around in my urban branch library and you see people of all ages, backgrounds. They are reading, playing, socializing, working. That's what America is supposed to be about.

kalleboo 10y ago

The last time I went to a library was in Sweden, and it was a fantastic library. They had all the multimedia stuff you could want - wifi, internet computers, a "media lab" for audio/video/music editing/XCode, digital media rentals, plenty of study areas in a gorgeous area with panoramic windows onto a park https://1001libraries.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/malmocitylibrary_joakim_raboff.jpg https://1001libraries.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/malmocityl... The computer/wifi access does require a library card, but that doesn't seem to onerous to me.