29 ms·

I believe it! I'm under 30, have a good sized apartment, and I also rent co-working office space in 2 places so I can always escape somewhere dedicated to getti

by err4nt 9y ago

I believe it! I'm under 30, have a good sized apartment, and I also rent co-working office space in 2 places so I can always escape somewhere dedicated to getting work done. Still, I'm _excited_ by the thought of the library system in my city, and long to go revisit to the big reference library downtown. To me libraries hold a romantic idea of being halls of knowledge, or even the place in which studying and teaching is done. It's a temple of learning - and no matter what you're studying, writing, or reading about - being in a place surrounded by so many other excited, eager learners is a big rush. I went to the public library near one of the universities and every surface was filled with a laptop, with an energized student starting at it getting work done. It was amazing. I don't really check out books, but I'm hoping maybe the library could be a future venue for me to teach free classes to people - it does seem like they have educational classes running almost every day of the week. How could a library not excite you? :D

swuecho 9y ago
The library system in US is amazing.
- seltzered_ 9y ago
  Which countries are you comparing to? Asking as I've seen some impressive libraries in european countries (e.g. Sweden) too.
nene-LOvo 9y ago
maravilaha!!!
nene-LOvo 9y ago
masa
Swizec 9y ago
I used to love libraries as a kid, but I stopped going sometime in high school. I realized that my reading habits just aren't fast enough to keep up with library return policies. It takes me a few months to get through a book and libraries don't like that. After one too many late fees I resolved to buying books instead. Now I have stacks of books that have been waiting for my attention for months sometimes years. Maybe I should get back into libraries ...
- jldugger 9y ago
  Usually you can renew a checkout online if there's no reserve queue.
  - swuecho 9y ago
    I have some similar situation. besides, when I have more income, a few dollars are not that much (the book price in US is cheap compared to other goods. Obviously not textbook). I end up buying more from amazon.
    - seanp2k2 9y ago
      A thousand ebooks can fit onto a giveaway USB drive, or sync with iCloud iBooks and Dropbox and whatever else you find convenient to use. You get used to reading on a screen, and Kindle Paperwhites are also nice to read on. It won't be exactly like paper, but I find that the convenience (searchability is a big one for me) trumps the feel of a "real" book. I also don't mind it much for fiction. Having stuff to read on my phone which is always with me is pretty tough to beat. I can pull out Cryptonomicon and read a few pages waiting in line at Safeway, in the restroom, during lunch, on a walk, in a Lyft, etc. You can definitely take books with you similarly, but then it's another physical thing to forget / stuff into a backpack / whatever. Edit: there's also the potential benefit to you of "trying before buying" pretty much anything you want. Just remember to actually support the authors if you value the continued creation of content. I've sent a few bottles of scotch which have been well-received :)
- ZeroGravitas 9y ago
  I have found the time limits helpful in motivating me to read, even though I often end up extending the loan multiple times when I'm too busy to read.
ithought 9y ago
Libraries are amazing and should be more celebrated and funded to expand their core mission. But cities like LA utilize libraries as refugees for homeless people which completely destroys the purpose. It should be a refuge for people working hard and trying to excel in life, not a place for people who have given up on life. I'm happy that the homeless have a place to go but as a society, it seems like we're doing everything wrong trying to fix the problem.
- scarmig 9y ago
  An ex of mine had a knife pulled on her by a (presumably homeless) man for no reason in the main SF public library. There's an inherent tension between making a space available to homeless people and making it available to all members of the public.
  - ZenoArrow 9y ago
    That sounds more like a mental health issue though. I just hope the US government puts in single payer healthcare so resources can be allocated to deal with it properly.
    - knodi123 9y ago
      > That sounds more like a mental health issue though Yes, absolutely, the primary causes of homelessness are drug addiction and mental health issues. There are other causes, and I'd never advocate being callous or dismissive toward the homeless- but this is the reason people find large concentrations of them off-putting.
      - ZenoArrow 9y ago
        I'm not disagreeing with you. I'll hopefully never fully understand what it feels like to have someone you're close to being threatened with a knife, but I can imagine it's horrible, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. What I am saying is that in order to cut down on that behaviour, we need to stop the problem at the source. To my knowledge, no country has ever managed to fully eradicate homelessness, but other places have had success in reducing drug addiction and mental health issues. If those issues are tackled, the issues surrounding homelessness should be greatly reduced, including a large reduction in violent and/or erratic behaviour. Trust is hard to build once it's broken, and I'm not asking you to forgive anyone, but we have to look beyond our current hardships if we want a future that's worth looking forward to.
problems 9y ago
> How could a library not excite you? :D I'll go ahead and answer that for you: $80 a year for a service I have never used nor do I know anyone who has used in the past decade. It's just not a good value for money to me.
- 112012123 9y ago
  What kind of library are you thinking? Public libraries are free.
  - khedoros1 9y ago
    Aren't they ultimately paid for by taxes? If so, that's not free. I'd be interested in knowing where they got the $80 number from, though.
    - problems 9y ago
      My city's tax website includes a breakdown.
  - apetresc 9y ago
    My guess is he's reverse-engineering that number from taxes allocated to public libraries or something like that.
  - Veratyr 9y ago
    Looking at my own public library, the city spends $5.7m per year for libraries serving 90000 people ($63/pp). That's 2.85% of the city's total revenue, which comes from sales tax, property tax and business license tax. It's a small cost but you are paying it.
- Veratyr 9y ago
  The same reasoning can be applied to most of the things your taxes pay for though. How often do you need to call the police or the fire brigade? I haven't needed either in a decade either. There are likely other things your taxes pay for that you use more than other people as well. For example my city allocates a huge amount of money towards maintaining roads, which I never use and sidewalks, which I use more than the average resident.
throwaway7645 9y ago
Agreed that libraries are exciting. I too view them as Halls of Learning. I do occasionally check out books still. I'd like to see them be a source of free classes put on by the community like you say. Imagine how many people would sign up for coding, electronics, language, history...etc classes? I know there already are some classes, but I'm not interested in Microsoft Office basics, although I know it is important to some.

by err4nt 9y ago

swuecho 9y ago

The library system in US is amazing.

seltzered_ 9y ago
Which countries are you comparing to? Asking as I've seen some impressive libraries in european countries (e.g. Sweden) too.

nene-LOvo 9y ago

maravilaha!!!

nene-LOvo 9y ago

masa

Swizec 9y ago

I used to love libraries as a kid, but I stopped going sometime in high school. I realized that my reading habits just aren't fast enough to keep up with library return policies. It takes me a few months to get through a book and libraries don't like that. After one too many late fees I resolved to buying books instead. Now I have stacks of books that have been waiting for my attention for months sometimes years. Maybe I should get back into libraries ...

jldugger 9y ago
Usually you can renew a checkout online if there's no reserve queue.
- swuecho 9y ago
  I have some similar situation. besides, when I have more income, a few dollars are not that much (the book price in US is cheap compared to other goods. Obviously not textbook). I end up buying more from amazon.
  - seanp2k2 9y ago
    A thousand ebooks can fit onto a giveaway USB drive, or sync with iCloud iBooks and Dropbox and whatever else you find convenient to use. You get used to reading on a screen, and Kindle Paperwhites are also nice to read on. It won't be exactly like paper, but I find that the convenience (searchability is a big one for me) trumps the feel of a "real" book. I also don't mind it much for fiction. Having stuff to read on my phone which is always with me is pretty tough to beat. I can pull out Cryptonomicon and read a few pages waiting in line at Safeway, in the restroom, during lunch, on a walk, in a Lyft, etc. You can definitely take books with you similarly, but then it's another physical thing to forget / stuff into a backpack / whatever. Edit: there's also the potential benefit to you of "trying before buying" pretty much anything you want. Just remember to actually support the authors if you value the continued creation of content. I've sent a few bottles of scotch which have been well-received :)
ZeroGravitas 9y ago
I have found the time limits helpful in motivating me to read, even though I often end up extending the loan multiple times when I'm too busy to read.

ithought 9y ago

Libraries are amazing and should be more celebrated and funded to expand their core mission. But cities like LA utilize libraries as refugees for homeless people which completely destroys the purpose. It should be a refuge for people working hard and trying to excel in life, not a place for people who have given up on life. I'm happy that the homeless have a place to go but as a society, it seems like we're doing everything wrong trying to fix the problem.

scarmig 9y ago
An ex of mine had a knife pulled on her by a (presumably homeless) man for no reason in the main SF public library. There's an inherent tension between making a space available to homeless people and making it available to all members of the public.
- ZenoArrow 9y ago
  That sounds more like a mental health issue though. I just hope the US government puts in single payer healthcare so resources can be allocated to deal with it properly.
  - knodi123 9y ago
    > That sounds more like a mental health issue though Yes, absolutely, the primary causes of homelessness are drug addiction and mental health issues. There are other causes, and I'd never advocate being callous or dismissive toward the homeless- but this is the reason people find large concentrations of them off-putting.
    - ZenoArrow 9y ago
      I'm not disagreeing with you. I'll hopefully never fully understand what it feels like to have someone you're close to being threatened with a knife, but I can imagine it's horrible, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. What I am saying is that in order to cut down on that behaviour, we need to stop the problem at the source. To my knowledge, no country has ever managed to fully eradicate homelessness, but other places have had success in reducing drug addiction and mental health issues. If those issues are tackled, the issues surrounding homelessness should be greatly reduced, including a large reduction in violent and/or erratic behaviour. Trust is hard to build once it's broken, and I'm not asking you to forgive anyone, but we have to look beyond our current hardships if we want a future that's worth looking forward to.

problems 9y ago

> How could a library not excite you? :D I'll go ahead and answer that for you: $80 a year for a service I have never used nor do I know anyone who has used in the past decade. It's just not a good value for money to me.

112012123 9y ago
What kind of library are you thinking? Public libraries are free.
- khedoros1 9y ago
  Aren't they ultimately paid for by taxes? If so, that's not free. I'd be interested in knowing where they got the $80 number from, though.
  - problems 9y ago
    My city's tax website includes a breakdown.
- apetresc 9y ago
  My guess is he's reverse-engineering that number from taxes allocated to public libraries or something like that.
- Veratyr 9y ago
  Looking at my own public library, the city spends $5.7m per year for libraries serving 90000 people ($63/pp). That's 2.85% of the city's total revenue, which comes from sales tax, property tax and business license tax. It's a small cost but you are paying it.
Veratyr 9y ago
The same reasoning can be applied to most of the things your taxes pay for though. How often do you need to call the police or the fire brigade? I haven't needed either in a decade either. There are likely other things your taxes pay for that you use more than other people as well. For example my city allocates a huge amount of money towards maintaining roads, which I never use and sidewalks, which I use more than the average resident.

throwaway7645 9y ago

Agreed that libraries are exciting. I too view them as Halls of Learning. I do occasionally check out books still. I'd like to see them be a source of free classes put on by the community like you say. Imagine how many people would sign up for coding, electronics, language, history...etc classes? I know there already are some classes, but I'm not interested in Microsoft Office basics, although I know it is important to some.