The library babysat me from ages 9-12. I got to learn and improve my knowledge and skill set there from 3pm-9pm every school day. I still love flipping pages in every new magazine and even miss the problem solving with the card catalog. If it just free use of computers/tablets, it won’t be as safe.
Reminds me of that guy who wrote an article about getting rid of libraries and not only ended up deleting his twitter account, I’m pretty sure he got fired from the publication who originally published the article.
This is ludicrous take is why you need to sit your ass in a library. Tech and the internet isn’t infallible. Even the internet archive is fighting for its life, fool.
... so, things I notice about the libraries I have used:
1) children's section, always used. Parents in there reading with kids.
2) From Easter onward, all tables are used up. Kids who need a quiet environment to study/revise need libraries
3) Plenty of people don't get on with digital books
Unfortunately, children are reading less fiction (or reading, period), and one of the reasons is not coming in to contact with books. Digital books don't work for kids, particularly poorer kids, partly because that s not how their parents read either (if their parents read at all). Hold on, 1 more..
This is, without a doubt, the worst take I’ve seen on BkueSky. Libraries are community gathering places, distributors of information, warmth, and safety. Hell, they are voting locations in most of the country. They provide access to curated and contextualized literature. Free. Libraries are magic.
This is the first ratio on Bluesky. It triggered the invasion of library lovers. I love it anyway, many people have learnt one new thing about libraries by through the replies and quotes.
Try living in rural areas where DSL is the best you can get. Libraries usually have the better connection that they leave on for school kids to come connect to to do their school work.
It doesn't take much paying attention to see that "Everything on the Internet is permanent" was a lie. Not only that, but libraries are important community resources. Shelter, internet, and knowledge! Some offer classes, even. Many people have no other access to these resources! Fund libraries! 📚
Aside from this being wildly inaccurate, libraries are waging the only successful campaign against Republicans destroying the final existing piece of our public infrastructure, public schools.
Libraries and librarians need to be extra supported right now.
They can remove the physical books and transition to a more digital and delivery centric approach for providing books. The extra space freed up by removing the physical books from the library can add a lot more space for more civic and community center activities
Okay, but you do know people can check out the books and take them home and read them at their leisure and return them. What’s your plan for lending books in this digital library, big brain?
Have you been to a library lately? I have. It was bustling with people. They are incredible hubs for people from many walks of life. Not sure I would have survived toddlers without library story time.
Spoken like someone who has no idea what libraries actually do besides "house physical media" like a dusty graveyard. We are full-ass community hubs. We connect people to information & people to people. We're safe havens for *ALL* community members. & NOW we're fighting for your right to *exist*.
I’m glad to see so many people here defending the library as community space and needed contribution to society. The amazing books & programs for children, the health information, computer access in rural areas, and free distribution of democracy. Yes.
Have you even accessed a library in its current form? Free ebooks, audiobooks, PS5 games, 3D printing, park passes, recording equipment, instruments, scholarly journals, gardening seeds. And books which *news flash* are not outdated.
Twitter: on fire
Google: only spits out malware and seo gibberish
FB: where granny goes to get scammed
all cryptocurrency: pyramid scheme
uber & netflix: incapable of turning a profit
Every company: we made our product worse with a buggy proprietary app!
This clown: digitization is the future 🤡🤡🤡
Sounds like someone who a) hasn't been to a library recently b) is well off enough to have broadband and a personal computer c) is unaware of the many digital resources libraries provide, and d) isn't aware that physical libraries are highly used and thus are needed
I’m one of those people. Our town library is across the street from our house and our kids grew up going there all the time. I still go at least once a month.
If you think the main purpose and service libraries provide is physical media, you are showing some serious ignorance and privilege. Even if you take all the media out of libraries, they'd still serve critical functions for their communities, for which the physical space is actually the main point.
This doesn’t even make sense because libraries also provide a huge repository of ebooks. Not to mention the need for a safe place for folks to hang out and gather.
A lot of people don't realize but quite a few libraries have access to expensive tech; 3D printers, laser cutters, sound booths etc
If you haven't visited the library since growing out of childhood, I recommend it giving it another go, there is more to it outside of browsing the children's section
hey bud how recently have you been to a library because like, most offer pretty robust digital lending, and some have pretty advanced computer labs with recording studios and 3d printers and stuff that's all free to use -- not to mention the fact they're public working and educational spaces
to say nothing of the fact that having a place where you can grab books and DVDs and shit is still really valuable even if they all didn't also offer e-lending
We defund libraries and force them to play along with book bans and then wonder why they're "behind" our expectations. Meanwhile, I use an app on my phone to borrow audiobooks with my library card and the process functions better than the hot garbage most modern for-profit startups put out now.
No, they're not. Analog versions of media are crucial, especially at a time when digital media is constantly censored, paywalled, or removed. Libraries are free, public safe havens for people without internet access or nurturing home lives.
Seriously, when is the last time you toured a library "in its current form". The Billy Jean King library blocks from my house here in #LongBeachCA has:
Public Computers
Free WiFi
Wireless Printing
Copy Machines
Sewing Machines you can use on site for free
Community Meeting Rooms
A Veterans Resource Center
A recording studio you can use for free WITH audio equipment
Borrowable Laptops
A light table
3D printers you can use for free
Hardware tools and electronics tools you can use for free
A family learning center with drop in homework support
When a city makes a COMMITMENT to properly fund the library budget libraries "in their current form" do A LOT more than lend media. Your statement makes me think you didn't know that which makes me think you don't actually visit libraries. https://www.longbeach.gov/library/locations/main-library/
Our local library is as busy as ever. A space for silent reading. Librarians helping kids fall in love with books. Teaching people how to do research and find ideas. Ebooks and paper books.
The libraries in San Francisco also include teaching kids how to do 3D printing and crafts.
You do know that libraries have more than books, right? You know that a huge number of old and out of print books are not available electronically, right? You do know that librarians are expert information finders, right? Oh. Oh I see.
Anyway, I just sent somebody to their local library a couple of weeks ago to check out a sewing machine. They also have cake pans. Go get a library card and educate your ignorant ass.
Unnecessary? I disagree, but for the sake of argument, maybe.
A waste? Hell naw. There are few simple joys like going to a place full of physical books and just losing yourself for a few hours. It's good for the soul...
I definitely like my ebooks... But I'm pretty privileged to be able to rely on that as my primary means of reading. I can afford a smartphone and a tablet and a computer. What would you propose for folks without those? Digital storage and print-on-demand?
Our local library has a ton of stuff for kids, has rooms for meetings and even if you want to do a podcast. They have rooms to listen to records and a room for teens to hang out. I feel like this is a super weird take.
There's a middle school in my district that is in walking distance from a library. Quite a few of those students go to the library after school bc their parents can't afford aftercare. They use their student IDs as their library card. There are so many ways libraries are valuable to a community.
they’re also full of young families with small children, retirees, students and people from all walks of life.
libraries embody the kind of community project we should invest in more - not less.
They are major resources from toddlers (early childhood development with story time programs) to the elderly (who don’t use digital books), and is a valuable lifeline of computer access for lower income students. Libraries are as essential as ever.
I've been online for 30 years now (!), since Prodigy, and here it is... The single most incorrect take ever published via computer. We did it folks. Let's shut it all down.
Nah. Physical media is still extremely valuable, especially when a lot of digital media is easily lost or locked behind proprietary systems. Free access to information through publicly available and supported sources is absolutely priceless. If anything, they should be funded more.
Congratulations for having the worst take on the internet that completely fails to take into account the precarity of digital information, among other things.
Tell me you've never worked for a site that's been shut down or butchered-via-redesign without telling me...
Comments
Don’t mess with libraries!
https://open.spotify.com/track/28mv40MzspRZn0PBcO2itT?si=xeLGbPASSXmh75xC5HiBEg
1) children's section, always used. Parents in there reading with kids.
2) From Easter onward, all tables are used up. Kids who need a quiet environment to study/revise need libraries
3) Plenty of people don't get on with digital books
Okay sure, sagas.
You are the absolute last person whose opinions on this matter I would consider. You don't have the range.
Libraries and librarians need to be extra supported right now.
Leave libraries alone, if you want to see a waste of space go find a church
https://www.tiktok.com/@playboymanbaby/video/7061787648343444783
i want to see the hoi polloi fighting and gamboling in the streets like feral hogs
libertarian crypto douche?
Waste of real estate my ass, only to the worst sort of person.
Google: only spits out malware and seo gibberish
FB: where granny goes to get scammed
all cryptocurrency: pyramid scheme
uber & netflix: incapable of turning a profit
Every company: we made our product worse with a buggy proprietary app!
This clown: digitization is the future 🤡🤡🤡
Wired: Dunking on this post to be a part of Bluesky ratio history and sharing the true bane of municipal real estate space
Booo Bad post. Have a good evening
https://parkingreform.org/resources/parking-lot-map/
If you haven't visited the library since growing out of childhood, I recommend it giving it another go, there is more to it outside of browsing the children's section
Public Computers
Free WiFi
Wireless Printing
Copy Machines
Sewing Machines you can use on site for free
Community Meeting Rooms
A recording studio you can use for free WITH audio equipment
Borrowable Laptops
A light table
3D printers you can use for free
Hardware tools and electronics tools you can use for free
A family learning center with drop in homework support
The libraries in San Francisco also include teaching kids how to do 3D printing and crafts.
My library also has homeless folks coming in and enjoying it. I hope it gives them a good time of rest off the streets while they are there.
When I pay my home taxes I get super happy to fund my local library.
A waste? Hell naw. There are few simple joys like going to a place full of physical books and just losing yourself for a few hours. It's good for the soul...
It’s a good experience.
capitalism is brain rot
libraries embody the kind of community project we should invest in more - not less.
Are they lost?!
Physical media comes in different forms and, if you cared to step into a library, you might be shocked to find that it's not just books...
Give your local library a shot!
Tell me you've never worked for a site that's been shut down or butchered-via-redesign without telling me...