To repeat a point I posted yesterday, it is true that libraries around the world are seeing themselves as community centers, to the point where new prestige cen

To repeat a point I posted yesterday, it is true that libraries around the world are seeing themselves as community centers, to the point where new prestige central libraries like Helsinki’s Oodi have few actual books, but have signs hung up saying people are invited to just talk and hangout. But since the linked article is about the US specifically, I think the odds are stacked against libraries continuing to fulfill that role, since the US has had such a strong dislike of “loitering” for over a century now, and it has a homeless problem that library staff – not being state officials or social workers – are unable to solve themselves. Just look at some of the comments here in this thread for how quick Americans are to associate public libraries with the smelly homeless.