6 ms·

What? My town has three libraries alone, all of which are large, spacious, extremely clean, super quiet, full of great material, and are constantly full of well

What? My town has three libraries alone, all of which are large, spacious, extremely clean, super quiet, full of great material, and are constantly full of well behaved citizens. You're not describing a feature of modern libraries. You're describing a local problem.

dangwhy 3y ago
> My town i think GP is talking about big cities. My library ( heart of chicago) is def fits the description. streetview : https://www.google.com/local/place/fid/0x880e2d00ee6fbd09:0xe406d0af8ab672bc/photosphere?iu=https://streetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com/v1/thumbnail?panoid%3DT-OtSabslM4P0b9kLx5tbQ%26cb_client%3Dlu.gallery.gps%26w%3D160%26h%3D106%26yaw%3D88.96404%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100&ik=CAISFlQtT3RTYWJzbE00UDBiOWtMeDV0YlE%3D https://www.google.com/local/place/fid/0x880e2d00ee6fbd09:0x... This is outside my libary from st view: https://imgur.com/a/CE51r2v https://imgur.com/a/CE51r2v There is usually a huge congregation of homeless there by afternoon. And its even worse inside the library. You get hit with stench as soon as you open the library door. Sucks because libarians have exceptional knowledge that any book lover would enjoy talking to. > You're describing a local problem. Unless you are suggesting middle class can only exist in the burbs and small towns. I 've lived in pilsen chicago for over 25 yrs, this is my home. Hate to relocate in next few yrs because now i have newborn.
JohnFen 3y ago
It's an incredibly common local problem that you find across a great deal of the US.
- geraldwhen 3y ago
  [dead]
thebooktocome 3y ago
Agreed. I live in a city with a noticeable homeless problem, but our extensive system of libraries is perfectly safe. Now, ten or twenty years ago, the main branch downtown was in what certain conservative commentators might have called a "no-go zone"—but really the neighborhood around the library was fine. It seemed to me that the drug gangs in the area back then had some kind of unspoken agreement that the library was neutral (dare I say sacred?) ground.
- dangwhy 3y ago
  > conservative commentators you know there are actual no go zones like austin area in chicago. Why are you hiding behind 'conservative commentators' as a cover for your statement.
  - thebooktocome 3y ago
    Odd choice to fixate on a clause buried in a hypothetical and ignore the thrust of the sentence, but I support your hermeneutical decisions. I do not live in Chicago and have said nothing here about it.
  - tptacek 3y ago
    I don't know what you're talking about, but I spend about 60 minutes in Austin (the Chicago neighborhood) every day, and live across a street from it. Austin is not a "no go zone". Residents of one of the wealthiest suburbs in Chicago routinely bike through it on their way to work in the Loop.
    - dangwhy 3y ago
      > Austin is not a "no go zone". maybe your definition is different. From last few weeks, > Man, 38, shot in the face in Austin. > The 38-year-old was walking on the sidewalk when someone started shooting around 10:20 p.m. in the 4900 block of West Hubbard Street, according to police. https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/man-38-shot-in-the-face-in-austin.amp https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/man-38-shot-in-the-face-in... > 7 Shot, 1 Fatally, in Austin as Group Gathered to Honor Life of Man Killed in Car Accident https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/7-shot-1-fatally-in-austin-as-group-gathered-to-honor-life-of-man-killed-in-car-accident/3154575/ https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/7-shot-1-fatally-in-au... > Boy, 15, injured after shooting in Austin overnight https://wgntv.com/news/chicagocrime/boy-15-injured-after-shooting-in-austin-overnight/ https://wgntv.com/news/chicagocrime/boy-15-injured-after-sho... > Austin Neighbors Are Helping Each Other Get Mental Health Care After Shootings Near Preschool > Some kids said they were too scared to play outside after hearing gunfire, a preschool leader said. A 20-year-old woman was killed and two men were wounded in two shootings days apart. https://blockclubchicago.org/2023/04/27/austin-neighbors-are-helping-each-other-get-mental-health-care-after-shootings-near-preschool/ https://blockclubchicago.org/2023/04/27/austin-neighbors-are... > Devout 'God-fearing' woman killed by stray bullet in front of Austin home, blocks away from church https://abc7chicago.com/chicago-shooting-crime-woman-killed-in/12897246/ https://abc7chicago.com/chicago-shooting-crime-woman-killed-...
AlanSE 3y ago
What town is that? As I go through my life experiences, every affluent place I've lived in my state, NC, has had decent libraries. They are used mostly by kids and old people, anecdotally. I laughed on the inside a bit when I considered the fact that a public library existed just a few blocks down from the library of a large public university. But this was my youthful ignorance. Anyone could walk in the university library and open a book (well, you could at that time, not so sure about anymore) but you had to have a school ID card to check out a book or access the computer system. Before cell phones, I visited libraries traveling around the coast. The computers were 100% taken. There was a line to get one, and the librarian directed us to a scheduling system. These were people who needed to use a computer and the internet to apply to a job. Access was scarce, low-quality, and competency to use those tools were lacking. Nowadays, cell phones have mostly taken away that niche of the past. I'm not sure if or why the people there still need the libraries.
- lotu 3y ago
  Ive tried making a resume or applying for jobs on a phone, it’s doable but much easier and more pleasant to do for two hours on a desktop. Fewer people have up to date desktop computers so I see the need for this continuing.
YellOh 3y ago
I live in a smaller city / large town and the local libraries are pretty dangerous-feeling with lots of cops & homeless folks. My anecdata doesn't match yours; actual data may be more useful.
the_jesus_villa 3y ago
You live in a bubble. America also doesn't have a gun violence problem if you live in Montana. Lots of us don't live in Montana, unfortunately.

dangwhy 3y ago

> My town i think GP is talking about big cities. My library ( heart of chicago) is def fits the description. streetview : https://www.google.com/local/place/fid/0x880e2d00ee6fbd09:0xe406d0af8ab672bc/photosphere?iu=https://streetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com/v1/thumbnail?panoid%3DT-OtSabslM4P0b9kLx5tbQ%26cb_client%3Dlu.gallery.gps%26w%3D160%26h%3D106%26yaw%3D88.96404%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100&ik=CAISFlQtT3RTYWJzbE00UDBiOWtMeDV0YlE%3D https://www.google.com/local/place/fid/0x880e2d00ee6fbd09:0x... This is outside my libary from st view: https://imgur.com/a/CE51r2v https://imgur.com/a/CE51r2v There is usually a huge congregation of homeless there by afternoon. And its even worse inside the library. You get hit with stench as soon as you open the library door. Sucks because libarians have exceptional knowledge that any book lover would enjoy talking to. > You're describing a local problem. Unless you are suggesting middle class can only exist in the burbs and small towns. I 've lived in pilsen chicago for over 25 yrs, this is my home. Hate to relocate in next few yrs because now i have newborn.

JohnFen 3y ago

It's an incredibly common local problem that you find across a great deal of the US.

geraldwhen 3y ago
[dead]

thebooktocome 3y ago

Agreed. I live in a city with a noticeable homeless problem, but our extensive system of libraries is perfectly safe. Now, ten or twenty years ago, the main branch downtown was in what certain conservative commentators might have called a "no-go zone"—but really the neighborhood around the library was fine. It seemed to me that the drug gangs in the area back then had some kind of unspoken agreement that the library was neutral (dare I say sacred?) ground.

dangwhy 3y ago
> conservative commentators you know there are actual no go zones like austin area in chicago. Why are you hiding behind 'conservative commentators' as a cover for your statement.
- thebooktocome 3y ago
  Odd choice to fixate on a clause buried in a hypothetical and ignore the thrust of the sentence, but I support your hermeneutical decisions. I do not live in Chicago and have said nothing here about it.
- tptacek 3y ago
  I don't know what you're talking about, but I spend about 60 minutes in Austin (the Chicago neighborhood) every day, and live across a street from it. Austin is not a "no go zone". Residents of one of the wealthiest suburbs in Chicago routinely bike through it on their way to work in the Loop.
  - dangwhy 3y ago
    > Austin is not a "no go zone". maybe your definition is different. From last few weeks, > Man, 38, shot in the face in Austin. > The 38-year-old was walking on the sidewalk when someone started shooting around 10:20 p.m. in the 4900 block of West Hubbard Street, according to police. https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/man-38-shot-in-the-face-in-austin.amp https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/man-38-shot-in-the-face-in... > 7 Shot, 1 Fatally, in Austin as Group Gathered to Honor Life of Man Killed in Car Accident https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/7-shot-1-fatally-in-austin-as-group-gathered-to-honor-life-of-man-killed-in-car-accident/3154575/ https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/7-shot-1-fatally-in-au... > Boy, 15, injured after shooting in Austin overnight https://wgntv.com/news/chicagocrime/boy-15-injured-after-shooting-in-austin-overnight/ https://wgntv.com/news/chicagocrime/boy-15-injured-after-sho... > Austin Neighbors Are Helping Each Other Get Mental Health Care After Shootings Near Preschool > Some kids said they were too scared to play outside after hearing gunfire, a preschool leader said. A 20-year-old woman was killed and two men were wounded in two shootings days apart. https://blockclubchicago.org/2023/04/27/austin-neighbors-are-helping-each-other-get-mental-health-care-after-shootings-near-preschool/ https://blockclubchicago.org/2023/04/27/austin-neighbors-are... > Devout 'God-fearing' woman killed by stray bullet in front of Austin home, blocks away from church https://abc7chicago.com/chicago-shooting-crime-woman-killed-in/12897246/ https://abc7chicago.com/chicago-shooting-crime-woman-killed-...

AlanSE 3y ago

What town is that? As I go through my life experiences, every affluent place I've lived in my state, NC, has had decent libraries. They are used mostly by kids and old people, anecdotally. I laughed on the inside a bit when I considered the fact that a public library existed just a few blocks down from the library of a large public university. But this was my youthful ignorance. Anyone could walk in the university library and open a book (well, you could at that time, not so sure about anymore) but you had to have a school ID card to check out a book or access the computer system. Before cell phones, I visited libraries traveling around the coast. The computers were 100% taken. There was a line to get one, and the librarian directed us to a scheduling system. These were people who needed to use a computer and the internet to apply to a job. Access was scarce, low-quality, and competency to use those tools were lacking. Nowadays, cell phones have mostly taken away that niche of the past. I'm not sure if or why the people there still need the libraries.

lotu 3y ago
Ive tried making a resume or applying for jobs on a phone, it’s doable but much easier and more pleasant to do for two hours on a desktop. Fewer people have up to date desktop computers so I see the need for this continuing.

YellOh 3y ago

I live in a smaller city / large town and the local libraries are pretty dangerous-feeling with lots of cops & homeless folks. My anecdata doesn't match yours; actual data may be more useful.

the_jesus_villa 3y ago

You live in a bubble. America also doesn't have a gun violence problem if you live in Montana. Lots of us don't live in Montana, unfortunately.