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The interesting thing on this thread is that while there is a general agreement libraries are high ROI government institutions and worth preserving, I don’t thi

The interesting thing on this thread is that while there is a general agreement libraries are high ROI government institutions and worth preserving, I don’t think anyone has defended the libraries role as a repository of books. I personally I am glad that these neighborhood book warehouses exist, we personally take our kids to checkout books about monthly. But as an adult? Almost all my check outs are via inter library loan, and even then my county’s selection of books as limited. Need a recent copy of a “home construction costs” estimator? Good luck. Looking for an obscure 70s novel your dad told you about? They threw it away in the 80s. A “national library” inter library loan system would be AMAZING. I know my college had something like that, but a single loan could cost $35-50. If a Seattle company (because, come on, Amazon isn’t Silicon Valley) could create a system that lowers that price to pennies per loan that disruption it would be a positive thing. And then we’d be even further along path we are on now-that we need libraries, but do libraries need books?

vxNsr 8y ago
I think your loan idea has some merit, if instead of replacing libraries they acted as the delivery boy for libraries, free of charge and didn't take the tax right off, that would be a net win. Because my guess is the biggest cost for that interlibary loan was the shipping.
davegauer 8y ago
Your experience mirrors mine exactly: we would go broke if we had to buy all of the picture books we checked out for our kids (sometimes on the order of 20/week). And for myself, the inter-library loan has been incredibly useful (especially for recent popular science titles). I also appreciate being able to browse the small selection of fiction/non-fiction at our local branch. As with the bookstore, I often pick up things I wouldn't dream of searching for online and would therefore never have found. I likewise wish my library system had more of a "long tail" stored somewhere.[1] Older books (no matter how popular and well-known they were at one time) are often simply not available. I had practically written off libraries when I was in my 20s: * The hours didn't mesh well with my work schedule * I could afford to buy whatever I was interested in * They never had the up-to-date programming books I wanted/needed That has changed completely now that I'm a parent. And yes, I do think libraries need books. Communities need books. This stuff needs to be available, even if just in principle. I was skeptical but surprised to find that my local library system has one copy each of: * Introduction to Algorithms * The Art of Computer Programming (vol 1) * The Pragmatic Programmer But the list of computer science classics they don't have is far larger. What they do have are a ton of of titles like _Teach Yourself Visual Basic.NET in 21 Days_ (real) and _Excel 14.2.32.rev13 for Boneheads_ (made up). No doubt it reflects what patrons are requesting...but I would personally wish for a collection that leans a little more heavily on the perennial classics. [1] http://www.dlib.org/dlib/april06/dempsey/04dempsey.html http://www.dlib.org/dlib/april06/dempsey/04dempsey.html
- Fomite 8y ago
  They might accept donations ;) I'm only half kidding - there's a local library in a place I used to live that has a very solid collection of epidemiology books thanks to downsizing my collection.

vxNsr 8y ago

I think your loan idea has some merit, if instead of replacing libraries they acted as the delivery boy for libraries, free of charge and didn't take the tax right off, that would be a net win. Because my guess is the biggest cost for that interlibary loan was the shipping.

davegauer 8y ago

Your experience mirrors mine exactly: we would go broke if we had to buy all of the picture books we checked out for our kids (sometimes on the order of 20/week). And for myself, the inter-library loan has been incredibly useful (especially for recent popular science titles). I also appreciate being able to browse the small selection of fiction/non-fiction at our local branch. As with the bookstore, I often pick up things I wouldn't dream of searching for online and would therefore never have found. I likewise wish my library system had more of a "long tail" stored somewhere.[1] Older books (no matter how popular and well-known they were at one time) are often simply not available. I had practically written off libraries when I was in my 20s: * The hours didn't mesh well with my work schedule * I could afford to buy whatever I was interested in * They never had the up-to-date programming books I wanted/needed That has changed completely now that I'm a parent. And yes, I do think libraries need books. Communities need books. This stuff needs to be available, even if just in principle. I was skeptical but surprised to find that my local library system has one copy each of: * Introduction to Algorithms * The Art of Computer Programming (vol 1) * The Pragmatic Programmer But the list of computer science classics they don't have is far larger. What they do have are a ton of of titles like _Teach Yourself Visual Basic.NET in 21 Days_ (real) and _Excel 14.2.32.rev13 for Boneheads_ (made up). No doubt it reflects what patrons are requesting...but I would personally wish for a collection that leans a little more heavily on the perennial classics. [1] http://www.dlib.org/dlib/april06/dempsey/04dempsey.html http://www.dlib.org/dlib/april06/dempsey/04dempsey.html

Fomite 8y ago
They might accept donations ;) I'm only half kidding - there's a local library in a place I used to live that has a very solid collection of epidemiology books thanks to downsizing my collection.