I'm very comfortable with the end of libraries as we know them today, but I think the facilities should be repurposed into "study lounges" and meeting space for

I'm very comfortable with the end of libraries as we know them today, but I think the facilities should be repurposed into "study lounges" and meeting space for civics groups. With a few exceptns, you don't really need a library for books anymore. Why not have the young professionals studying for grad school entrance exams or high school kids studying in Starbucks to do that in a community-center type space. For folks without computers/Internet access, keep or expand the computers that are already in there. I remember the Nook had a very weird feature where if you were inside the store you could free-read any book you wanted electronically, maybe a repurposed library could have the same licensing arrangement with content from the likes of Google books.