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> it comes across as selfish this is how voting is supposed to work - you vote YOUR interests. libraries are one of these things nerds get excited about but d

> it comes across as selfish this is how voting is supposed to work - you vote YOUR interests. libraries are one of these things nerds get excited about but don't use. I would be surprised if 5% of HN readers have checked a book out of the library in the last five years. I fund, like and visit my local library but wouldn't see its closure as a sign of the end-times.

dagw 8y ago
I would be surprised if 5% of HN readers have checked a book out of the library in the last five years. Sure, I might not have checked out a book in the last five years, but I use my local library probably once a month. Libraries are much more than places to borrow books.
- claydavisss 8y ago
  But you're paying for the books. If you want a community meeting hall with internet access, it can be run much more cheaply
- al_chemist 8y ago
  > I might not have checked out a book in the last five years, but I use my local library probably once a month How do you use a library while not using books it hold?
  - thrmsforbfast 8y ago
    Before moving to very-much-big-city, my very-much-not-big-city library had: * nice meeting rooms we used for interest group meetups and community organizing (of the "pick up litter" variety) * copies of TAOCP and of Bourbaki (pro tip: tell your librarians what you want!) I never checked out TAOCP but I'd always show up to meetings an hour early to meetings and read a section. Also a good way to spend a cold Saturday. Made it through a good chunk.
  - tedunangst 8y ago
    You can read books without checking them out.
dlisboa 8y ago
> this is how voting is supposed to work - you vote YOUR interests. Of course it isn't. I'm a man, one could make the argument I have no reason to vote for maternity leave, legal and safe abortions, equal pay. But I'd vote for it each time because it provides a better society for people I have no relation with. Your view of voting is just a reflection of your own selfishness, not a definition of the idea of political participation. Many people vote for something more than pragmatic concerns.

dagw 8y ago

I would be surprised if 5% of HN readers have checked a book out of the library in the last five years. Sure, I might not have checked out a book in the last five years, but I use my local library probably once a month. Libraries are much more than places to borrow books.

claydavisss 8y ago
But you're paying for the books. If you want a community meeting hall with internet access, it can be run much more cheaply
al_chemist 8y ago
> I might not have checked out a book in the last five years, but I use my local library probably once a month How do you use a library while not using books it hold?
- thrmsforbfast 8y ago
  Before moving to very-much-big-city, my very-much-not-big-city library had: * nice meeting rooms we used for interest group meetups and community organizing (of the "pick up litter" variety) * copies of TAOCP and of Bourbaki (pro tip: tell your librarians what you want!) I never checked out TAOCP but I'd always show up to meetings an hour early to meetings and read a section. Also a good way to spend a cold Saturday. Made it through a good chunk.
- tedunangst 8y ago
  You can read books without checking them out.

dlisboa 8y ago

> this is how voting is supposed to work - you vote YOUR interests. Of course it isn't. I'm a man, one could make the argument I have no reason to vote for maternity leave, legal and safe abortions, equal pay. But I'd vote for it each time because it provides a better society for people I have no relation with. Your view of voting is just a reflection of your own selfishness, not a definition of the idea of political participation. Many people vote for something more than pragmatic concerns.