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Are you saying that libraries should only have sensible holdings? Which ones are those? I once checked out le Carré's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. It was some

Are you saying that libraries should only have sensible holdings? Which ones are those? I once checked out le Carré's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. It was something of an action novel, and it was entertaining. Was that one OK?

rorrr 15y ago
I think libraries (as buildings) aren't really needed anymore. Switch the library model to digital, it would be orders of magnitude cheaper, and you only really need one large website instead of 120,000 buildings throughout the country. If you need to save money right now, ditch all videos.
yummyfajitas 15y ago
I think the point is that this is the sort of thing people should buy/rent for themselves, rather than demanding other people to rent it for them.
- softbuilder 15y ago
  Exact same argument could be made for books. Why don't we rent books?
  - yummyfajitas 15y ago
    Good question. Here in India this is exactly how it is done. (I'm told a few public libraries do exist, but I've never seen one.) Given that the private sector does seem fully capable of providing libraries to those who want them, why do we subsidize them?
    - softbuilder 15y ago
      If I'm too poor to rent a book, how do I get it?
      - galadriel 15y ago
        If it is India, you are probably too poor to be literate, or if literate, you have very little time to engage in privilege of reading books. So the answer is I guess, you don't. Pretty much like you don't get (decent) healthcare for poor in US.
    - corin_ 15y ago
      The private sector is equally capable of providing hospitals, policemen, firefighters, governments, roads... The question is rarely as simple as "could the private sector do it?"
      - yummyfajitas 15y ago
        Um, the theory behind the government provisioning of police, firefighters and roads is that they are a public good. I.e., people will refuse to pay for police while enjoying not being murdered.
        corin_ 15y ago
        In the most simplistic explanation possible, "public good" is the reason for everything the government does, including libraries.
        yummyfajitas 15y ago
        No, libraries are rivalrous and excludible, hence a private good.
        corin_ 15y ago
        That's just completely irrelevant though. Healthcare provision is rivalrous and excludible, ask any poor American, doesn't mean it shouldn't be universally provided by the government. Education is rivalrous and excludible, look at private schools - doesn't mean it's wrong for there to be state schools and laws making children attend them. The only thing that matters is whether the public benefit outweighs the burden on taxpayers.
        deleted 15y ago
        [deleted]
  - rdl 15y ago
    There's a reasonable argument that even trashy books have value as reading practice. Most humans have no problem finding enough spoken interaction to practice listening (although I definitely watched mediocre television in foreign language to practice...) (I'd be fine with no government funding for libraries in general; it seems like something which should be privately or charity funded to keep them safe from censorship and political control.)
derleth 15y ago
> Are you saying that libraries should only have sensible holdings? Which ones are those? You're being facetious, but this is precisely the question libraries have always faced, through thin times and fat, regardless of the social and political winds. They have only so much shelf space and face the simple fact nobody will come to a location that doesn't offer them anything they want. There's a very old political debate at bottom: Should a government institution give the taxpayers what they want, or should it focus more on giving them what the better-educated types decide they need? Go the first way and you're competing with Wal-Mart and Barnes & Noble; go the second and you have a wonderful temple to Sanctioned Knowledge that, to a first approximation, nobody really cares about. So, yes, what are 'sensible' holdings? Do you have any answers?
- a_a_r_o_n 15y ago
  Demand mixed with a librarian's sense of worth/taste is one approach. There are many others. And libraries do have to choose due to shelf space and publisher agreements. My hackles rise whenever I hear someone tell me what's worthwhile and what's not. But I do recognize practical necessity. I don't believe there's anything magical about the book/text format over electronic/other formats, other than "that's how it's been" up until recently. I would be pleased to see "Fart Proudly" in any library's holdings, regardless of format. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fart_Proudly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fart_Proudly

rorrr 15y ago

I think libraries (as buildings) aren't really needed anymore. Switch the library model to digital, it would be orders of magnitude cheaper, and you only really need one large website instead of 120,000 buildings throughout the country. If you need to save money right now, ditch all videos.

yummyfajitas 15y ago

I think the point is that this is the sort of thing people should buy/rent for themselves, rather than demanding other people to rent it for them.

softbuilder 15y ago
Exact same argument could be made for books. Why don't we rent books?
- yummyfajitas 15y ago
  Good question. Here in India this is exactly how it is done. (I'm told a few public libraries do exist, but I've never seen one.) Given that the private sector does seem fully capable of providing libraries to those who want them, why do we subsidize them?
  - softbuilder 15y ago
    If I'm too poor to rent a book, how do I get it?
    - galadriel 15y ago
      If it is India, you are probably too poor to be literate, or if literate, you have very little time to engage in privilege of reading books. So the answer is I guess, you don't. Pretty much like you don't get (decent) healthcare for poor in US.
  - corin_ 15y ago
    The private sector is equally capable of providing hospitals, policemen, firefighters, governments, roads... The question is rarely as simple as "could the private sector do it?"
    - yummyfajitas 15y ago
      Um, the theory behind the government provisioning of police, firefighters and roads is that they are a public good. I.e., people will refuse to pay for police while enjoying not being murdered.
      - corin_ 15y ago
        In the most simplistic explanation possible, "public good" is the reason for everything the government does, including libraries.
        yummyfajitas 15y ago
        No, libraries are rivalrous and excludible, hence a private good.
        corin_ 15y ago
        That's just completely irrelevant though. Healthcare provision is rivalrous and excludible, ask any poor American, doesn't mean it shouldn't be universally provided by the government. Education is rivalrous and excludible, look at private schools - doesn't mean it's wrong for there to be state schools and laws making children attend them. The only thing that matters is whether the public benefit outweighs the burden on taxpayers.
      - deleted 15y ago
        [deleted]
- rdl 15y ago
  There's a reasonable argument that even trashy books have value as reading practice. Most humans have no problem finding enough spoken interaction to practice listening (although I definitely watched mediocre television in foreign language to practice...) (I'd be fine with no government funding for libraries in general; it seems like something which should be privately or charity funded to keep them safe from censorship and political control.)

derleth 15y ago

> Are you saying that libraries should only have sensible holdings? Which ones are those? You're being facetious, but this is precisely the question libraries have always faced, through thin times and fat, regardless of the social and political winds. They have only so much shelf space and face the simple fact nobody will come to a location that doesn't offer them anything they want. There's a very old political debate at bottom: Should a government institution give the taxpayers what they want, or should it focus more on giving them what the better-educated types decide they need? Go the first way and you're competing with Wal-Mart and Barnes & Noble; go the second and you have a wonderful temple to Sanctioned Knowledge that, to a first approximation, nobody really cares about. So, yes, what are 'sensible' holdings? Do you have any answers?

a_a_r_o_n 15y ago
Demand mixed with a librarian's sense of worth/taste is one approach. There are many others. And libraries do have to choose due to shelf space and publisher agreements. My hackles rise whenever I hear someone tell me what's worthwhile and what's not. But I do recognize practical necessity. I don't believe there's anything magical about the book/text format over electronic/other formats, other than "that's how it's been" up until recently. I would be pleased to see "Fart Proudly" in any library's holdings, regardless of format. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fart_Proudly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fart_Proudly