5 ms·

That's such a fun idea, but if you were going to do do it in the US, you'd have to ban political books or that's all it would be.

pugworthy 3y ago
As someone who likes to look into little free libraries in the US while out walking, I'd beg to disagree with the generalization of US book owners - at least what I've seen.
- _fs 3y ago
  I swear, every time I peek inside a little library, its like a daycare reading corner meets a dan brown fan club. Always a pile of kids book with covers torn off and crayon drawings added on. And then 5 copies of the latest Dan Brown novel. I don't really need to read any more thrillers turned movies, thank you.
  - dfxm12 3y ago
    Be the change you want to see in in your neighborhood.
    - pugworthy 3y ago
      Yes
  - 1123581321 3y ago
    That's because people are taking out the good books and not putting in other good books. You should contribute, too. And periodically the owner should prune the junk.
  - PaulHoule 3y ago
    I got bitched out by my son from bringing home two Piers Anthony books from one of those little libraries, I told him that Anthony was pretty good before Xanth.
- PaulHoule 3y ago
  All around Ithaca there are little boxes, sometimes like a mailbox, where you can “take a book or leave a book”. We also have bookshelves all over the place with free children’s books that are sponsored by an NGO. I remember picking up a copy of Rights Talk at a free books book in Montreal, thanks the most political book I’ve seen which I like a lot despite a very dated take on the Americans with Disabilities act (e.g. it is not all controversial the way it was when it was new.). The success of Obamacare also shows that the impasses it predicts don’t necessarily happen in practice although certain “culture war” topics are as pathological as ever.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
082349872349872 3y ago
I thought politics in the US was less book-length and more bumper-sticker-length?
- sp332 3y ago
  Don’t worry, they’re making books shorter. Sorry I mean BookShots(tm) https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/101009.BookShots_By_James_Patterson https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/101009.BookShots_By_Jame...
netsharc 3y ago
Article says: > One bookshelf owner said, "I'm delighted to read feedback on books picked to reflect my view on the world." If the idea is to show people books reflecting your view of the world, I can imagine that in the US it actually would get political real freaking fast. In some temples in Japan one can buy a small wooden sign where one can write one's wishes/prayer onto it, the sign comes with a piece of rope to hang on a prayer tree. When I visited in 2019, many of the signs just had "5 demands" written on them, written presumably by Hong Kongers[1]. And to throw a grenade into the conversation, I was in a hostel in Iceland where there's a wall made of blackboard material where travellers can leave their messages. I noticed one of the messages was "Palestine" (nothing provocative like having the word "Free" in front of it), and next to it was an aggressive chalk writing in the tone of "Fuck you!" or wishing the country death. (I don't remember exactly what it said). I had a chuckle because it was the opposite of what the media usually portrays as who's the agressor and who's the victim. I feel like the library can only work in Japan, and not the rest of the world, however civilized they claim to be... [1] https://www.scmp.com/yp/discover/news/hong-kong/article/3065950/hong-kong-protests-what-are-five-demands-what-do https://www.scmp.com/yp/discover/news/hong-kong/article/3065...
creer 3y ago
If you are interested in this kind of sociology, visit public libraries in random places while you pass through. They are sometimes hugely different. Perhaps in which foreign languages they favor. Perhaps in the proportion of religious or political books in the "new" section. Perhaps in the money or care that goes in the building. Then there are things like the Death Star's public library. But then I like libraries in general.

pugworthy 3y ago

As someone who likes to look into little free libraries in the US while out walking, I'd beg to disagree with the generalization of US book owners - at least what I've seen.

_fs 3y ago
I swear, every time I peek inside a little library, its like a daycare reading corner meets a dan brown fan club. Always a pile of kids book with covers torn off and crayon drawings added on. And then 5 copies of the latest Dan Brown novel. I don't really need to read any more thrillers turned movies, thank you.
- dfxm12 3y ago
  Be the change you want to see in in your neighborhood.
  - pugworthy 3y ago
    Yes
- 1123581321 3y ago
  That's because people are taking out the good books and not putting in other good books. You should contribute, too. And periodically the owner should prune the junk.
- PaulHoule 3y ago
  I got bitched out by my son from bringing home two Piers Anthony books from one of those little libraries, I told him that Anthony was pretty good before Xanth.
PaulHoule 3y ago
All around Ithaca there are little boxes, sometimes like a mailbox, where you can “take a book or leave a book”. We also have bookshelves all over the place with free children’s books that are sponsored by an NGO. I remember picking up a copy of Rights Talk at a free books book in Montreal, thanks the most political book I’ve seen which I like a lot despite a very dated take on the Americans with Disabilities act (e.g. it is not all controversial the way it was when it was new.). The success of Obamacare also shows that the impasses it predicts don’t necessarily happen in practice although certain “culture war” topics are as pathological as ever.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

082349872349872 3y ago

I thought politics in the US was less book-length and more bumper-sticker-length?

sp332 3y ago
Don’t worry, they’re making books shorter. Sorry I mean BookShots(tm) https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/101009.BookShots_By_James_Patterson https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/101009.BookShots_By_Jame...

netsharc 3y ago

Article says: > One bookshelf owner said, "I'm delighted to read feedback on books picked to reflect my view on the world." If the idea is to show people books reflecting your view of the world, I can imagine that in the US it actually would get political real freaking fast. In some temples in Japan one can buy a small wooden sign where one can write one's wishes/prayer onto it, the sign comes with a piece of rope to hang on a prayer tree. When I visited in 2019, many of the signs just had "5 demands" written on them, written presumably by Hong Kongers[1]. And to throw a grenade into the conversation, I was in a hostel in Iceland where there's a wall made of blackboard material where travellers can leave their messages. I noticed one of the messages was "Palestine" (nothing provocative like having the word "Free" in front of it), and next to it was an aggressive chalk writing in the tone of "Fuck you!" or wishing the country death. (I don't remember exactly what it said). I had a chuckle because it was the opposite of what the media usually portrays as who's the agressor and who's the victim. I feel like the library can only work in Japan, and not the rest of the world, however civilized they claim to be... [1] https://www.scmp.com/yp/discover/news/hong-kong/article/3065950/hong-kong-protests-what-are-five-demands-what-do https://www.scmp.com/yp/discover/news/hong-kong/article/3065...

creer 3y ago

If you are interested in this kind of sociology, visit public libraries in random places while you pass through. They are sometimes hugely different. Perhaps in which foreign languages they favor. Perhaps in the proportion of religious or political books in the "new" section. Perhaps in the money or care that goes in the building. Then there are things like the Death Star's public library. But then I like libraries in general.