3 ms·

I've never really thought much about using schools to teach adults. I love the idea, although in the United States there'd likely be a lot of pushback from peop

I've never really thought much about using schools to teach adults. I love the idea, although in the United States there'd likely be a lot of pushback from people who oppose more subsidized college. But aside from all of that, I think that the expansion of services that libraries provide would be an excellent way to go about this - many libraries are already getting 3D printers and all sorts of tools, and are consistently adding new programs. And I doubt many people oppose supporting local libraries. Plus, libraries are in some ways better equipped to train people on how to learn on their own (not that they shouldn't also have teachers, but self teaching is definitely a great skill for life long education) Also, the idea of having many ages all together is really nice - something that doesn't even happen much in colleges. It's the sort of thing that helps foster community across generations and helps give people an understanding of more perspectives. Although luckily that kind of interaction can happen a lot across the internet.

Mediterraneo10 7y ago
> And I doubt many people oppose supporting local libraries. Previous threads on HN (and many other fora) about local libraries in the US, bring out a lot of people who complain about local libraries. They say that libraries smell bad because homeless people sit there all day (and supposedly view pornography on the provided computers, and use drugs in the bathroom). They say that libraries are a waste of taxpayer money now that we have the internet and they should be shut down. I cannot claim to have visited every community in the USA, but it seems to me that a lot of people oppose supporting local libraries.
- automatoney 7y ago
  I had forgotten about the people who complain about homeless people (which as an aside I would argue is more of an issue with society than with libraries themselves), but I haven't seen too much of the "we have the internet and they should be shut down" arguments. It seems that those opposed to libraries on this site have likely forgotten the Hacker part of Hacker News. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_ethic#The_hacker_ethics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_ethic#The_hacker_ethics
- zdragnar 7y ago
  From my observations, it seems that the vocal opposition is far outnumbered by the quiet supporters. My small town library is expanding, not simply for more room for books, but also to make it a nicer space for events and programs open to the community. The internet situation out here is also pretty bad (I use ubifi), so it's handy for those who are low income to access the internet without using data from their cell phone.
- tooltalk 7y ago
  I used to work for NYPL years back. Apparently there are also gangs having sex (eg, gang initiation) at some branches -- this topic was actually covered during my orientation. I agree many branches are essentially day-time shelters for homeless (sure, they smell really bad) and drug addicts. Not sure about "shutting them down," but they try to justify their existence even in the age of the internet and wireless communication by claiming that they serve various unheeded needs of local community other agencies are unable to provide. Are they really a waste of taxpayers money? Well, most librarians are unions members and they are not for the most part a drain on NYC finance -- we are talking about NYC where NYPD officers can make $150+K or sky-is-the-limit earnings for MTA contractors. I think the city has much greater issues at its hand, but the library system is far from frugal or efficient, IMO. Some work for the library because they share and believe in the mission and service they provide to community, but I suspect many don't care about that.
  - killjoywashere 7y ago
    If public libraries would serve coffee and get serious about wi-fi, they would make money. Why is there not a Starbucks morticed into every public library?
    - notfromhere 7y ago
      lots of public libraries have coffee shops inside, though generally not starbucks. At least in a bunch that I've been in Illinois
Noos 7y ago
You're using an outlier library if it has 3-D printers. The average library is more a net cafe with a small amount of books and no "cafe" part. Essentially it's a worse bookstore with worse hours, but free content. My local library is in a nice building downtown, but it's real amount of books is far less than the books-a-million 20 minutes away, and most of the floor space is dominated by banks of computers. When libraries changed focus from providing access to computers, they kind of lost their mission, because computers are now dirt cheap, yet books are more expensive overall.

Mediterraneo10 7y ago

> And I doubt many people oppose supporting local libraries. Previous threads on HN (and many other fora) about local libraries in the US, bring out a lot of people who complain about local libraries. They say that libraries smell bad because homeless people sit there all day (and supposedly view pornography on the provided computers, and use drugs in the bathroom). They say that libraries are a waste of taxpayer money now that we have the internet and they should be shut down. I cannot claim to have visited every community in the USA, but it seems to me that a lot of people oppose supporting local libraries.

automatoney 7y ago
I had forgotten about the people who complain about homeless people (which as an aside I would argue is more of an issue with society than with libraries themselves), but I haven't seen too much of the "we have the internet and they should be shut down" arguments. It seems that those opposed to libraries on this site have likely forgotten the Hacker part of Hacker News. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_ethic#The_hacker_ethics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_ethic#The_hacker_ethics
zdragnar 7y ago
From my observations, it seems that the vocal opposition is far outnumbered by the quiet supporters. My small town library is expanding, not simply for more room for books, but also to make it a nicer space for events and programs open to the community. The internet situation out here is also pretty bad (I use ubifi), so it's handy for those who are low income to access the internet without using data from their cell phone.
tooltalk 7y ago
I used to work for NYPL years back. Apparently there are also gangs having sex (eg, gang initiation) at some branches -- this topic was actually covered during my orientation. I agree many branches are essentially day-time shelters for homeless (sure, they smell really bad) and drug addicts. Not sure about "shutting them down," but they try to justify their existence even in the age of the internet and wireless communication by claiming that they serve various unheeded needs of local community other agencies are unable to provide. Are they really a waste of taxpayers money? Well, most librarians are unions members and they are not for the most part a drain on NYC finance -- we are talking about NYC where NYPD officers can make $150+K or sky-is-the-limit earnings for MTA contractors. I think the city has much greater issues at its hand, but the library system is far from frugal or efficient, IMO. Some work for the library because they share and believe in the mission and service they provide to community, but I suspect many don't care about that.
- killjoywashere 7y ago
  If public libraries would serve coffee and get serious about wi-fi, they would make money. Why is there not a Starbucks morticed into every public library?
  - notfromhere 7y ago
    lots of public libraries have coffee shops inside, though generally not starbucks. At least in a bunch that I've been in Illinois

Noos 7y ago

You're using an outlier library if it has 3-D printers. The average library is more a net cafe with a small amount of books and no "cafe" part. Essentially it's a worse bookstore with worse hours, but free content. My local library is in a nice building downtown, but it's real amount of books is far less than the books-a-million 20 minutes away, and most of the floor space is dominated by banks of computers. When libraries changed focus from providing access to computers, they kind of lost their mission, because computers are now dirt cheap, yet books are more expensive overall.