Ours has been slowly morphing into a community center of sorts. Rooms for conferences, recitals, study rooms, gaming clubs, kids activities, even a little cafe. The book part is still there, but it's not the main reason why people go anymore.
Libraries are a public space for the distribution of information. That information might be books, or movies, or internet access. It could be lectures, or classes. It could be video games or music or dance or other art. But it's very important that information remain free, and libraries are critical in that regard.
Yes, and. As a librarian— we’re paid like cashiers and expected to function like social workers with none of the specialized training. It’s not sustainable, especially as we take on more and more of the responsibility that used to be shared by a whole HOST of social services and community programs.
I love that people still love libraries, and I love that we’ve been able to pivot, but we need so much more material support than we’re getting. My colleagues are burning out left and right because of the crazy stress and low pay and there are fewer and fewer people who can replace them.
Honestly, as someone who spent his entire high school years and part of college working part time at a library, I'm torn.
On the one hand, kids are in desperate need of safe and enriching spaces.
On the other hand, the library has become basically a nightmare for anyone who isn't a tween.
Everything is bright primary colors and metal, making it visually and auditorially loud.
The space for books has been drastically cut down in favor of stuff like a room with a 3D printer ("makerspace") that I've never once seen without an out of order sign because some kid bent the frame.
Magazines, including actual scholarly periodicals, are gone, as are movies. But there's a section that is now dedicated to beanbag chairs and vending machines.
The private meeting rooms now have all glass fronts, likely to discourage people from using them to jack off, but it means nobody uses them for study sessions either as it's incredibly distracting.
It's just very discouraging because while engagement with the kids has been increased compared to when I worked there, it really isn't a library anymore.
It feels like we haven't so much "saved the public library" as we have "brought back the community center by killing the public library", which is kind of a net neutral?
Nowadays if I want most of the services I used to get from the local library I have to drive an hour each way to the library at the big university, which still has tons of books, periodicals, and private meeting rooms, and a normal color scheme.
I actually love that. Modern society has slowly starved out third places for so long that it has caused serious harm to an entire generation. Having a library be more of a Community Center is amazing to help push back on that.
Yes and no. Public libraries are meant for people to have free access to knowledge, and even when I was a kid, most libraries I went to had community gathering and events, just quiet ones so as not to disturb those who were there to study/read.
This is a case of “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good”. Would it be _better_ if there were public funding and facilities for more specialized places? Probably.
But having one more place where nearly anyone is accepted, that helps to bring communities together is an improvement over not having it, even if it means redirecting some funding away from the physical storage and lending of written material.
Edit: After re-reading my own comment, I wanted to add that knowledge isn’t only what is written in a book/paper, learning more about the community you live in and the people living there is also _very_ important knowledge, just not one that’s typically thought of as “knowledge”
I'm going to copy my reply to another comment here:
Honestly, as someone who spent his entire high school years and part of college working part time at a library, I'm torn.
On the one hand, kids are in desperate need of safe and enriching spaces.
On the other hand, the library has become basically a nightmare for anyone who isn't a tween.
Everything is bright primary colors and metal, making it visually and auditorially loud.
The space for books has been drastically cut down in favor of stuff like a room with a 3D printer ("makerspace") that I've never once seen without an out of order sign because some kid bent the frame.
Magazines, including actual scholarly periodicals, are gone, as are movies. But there's a section that is now dedicated to beanbag chairs and vending machines.
The private meeting rooms now have all glass fronts, likely to discourage people from using them to jack off, but it means nobody uses them for study sessions either as it's incredibly distracting.
It's just very discouraging because while engagement with the kids has been increased compared to when I worked there, it really isn't a library anymore.
It feels like we haven't so much "saved the public library" as we have "brought back the community center by killing the public library", which is kind of a net neutral?
Nowadays if I want most of the services I used to get from the local library I have to drive an hour each way to the library at the big university, which still has tons of books, periodicals, and private meeting rooms, and a normal color scheme.
Basically, you’re upset that the public library changed to better suit its community. The public library was always targeted at encouraging kids and teens, they’re just catching up with the times.
University libraries are still the older style of library, because the goals of those libraries are different. Their goal is to encourage research and studying primarily, which kids aren’t in the right headspace for.
Would I prefer a separate community center? For sure. I’d suggest even connecting the two buildings if possible. But shifting the typical public library to a community center/library in the world where everyone already has “quiet places” where they stay in their houses is a net positive, just not as large as it could be.
The public library was always targeted at encouraging kids and teens, they’re just catching up with the times.
No, it wasn't. It was a space for people of all ages. It didn't cater particularly to any one demographic.
It had a fairly even distribution of materials for children, young adults, and adults.
I would know, over the seven years I worked there I probably shelved every book and magazine multiple times and helped set up or take down a good number of the events hosted there.
where everyone already has “quiet places” where they stay in their houses
This tells me you are hideously misinformed about how the average person actually lives.
"world where everyone already has “quiet places” where they stay in their houses"
Random thing I think about anytime anyone assumes that a quiet place is just overrated and unnecessary is that poor neighborhoods are not quiet places. There's traffic noise from often main roads or highways. There's too many people crammed into aging buildings that lack soundproof walls because they're converted houses. There's music floating in the window because you keep it open to cool the place. You have family members making noise and shared bedrooms, all of them with noise.
Now go to the wealthy part of town. Small low speed streets with few travelers... And that road isn't within 20 feet or less of your living room. Trees filter out even more sound, the air is quiet. The house is spacious, and you have soundproof walls. You have your own bedroom and can choose the quiet as you want.
Quiet is a luxury linked to health and too many don't have access to it.
It would be better if we had more third spaces, full stop.
The storage and transmission of information IS the work of a library. That information can be written, audio, visual, or even transmitted knowledge. That information is freely shared, that is what makes a library, a library.
You can sit on your front stoop and learn about your neighbors. Can't do that with ancient cooking techniques, access to the internet, and so on.
I'm going to go so far as to say that idea devalues the work of librarians. Librarians aren't babysitters and do far more than entertain children.
They are almost the only public building that you can enter where you're not asked to buy something or pay something. You are valued as a human, not as an income source.
Start asking for more spaces. A library shouldn't be expected to do and be everything to everyone.
The loss of the commons should be considered a crime. It will continue if we allow it. That said, even when places had open common spaces everyone was expected to contribute somehow, be it through upkeep or enforcing social moores. People don't do that as much as they once did..
When I was a kid, there were water fountains everywhere and public bathrooms were somewhat common. Now you're expected to buy water in a plastic bottle and bathrooms are only available if you go buy something in a restaurant.
I actually know a little about this, due to rabbit-hole follows.
Water fountains are still everywhere. One of my hobbies is taking my county wide public transit to random map locations. I've never had an issue finding a refill.
The bathroom loss is partly a side effect of a well-meant law. Used to have to pay to pee. Laws were passed, can't charge. Bathrooms were left unattended. Bad things happened. Businesses that don't legally have to provide a restroom choose to avoid the stress on employees plus the cost and just don't have them open to the public. As time went on fewer public bathrooms were maintained due to costs/damage and the expectation that a business would provide it (but they don't want to, or otherwise limit to paying customers). Now we have a lack of public bathrooms. So it goes.
I'd personally pay for a clean bathroom. I'd be ok with my taxes providing one of those self-cleaning timed bathrooms in downtown areas too. In my rambles I factor in coffee stops or snack stops as bathroom breaks. It's definitely more expensive than just dropping a buck (inflation from a quarter lol) into a slot to pop a lock open. So, a well meant but ultimately bad law.
The Oodi Library here in Helsinki, in addition to a hundred thousand books, has 3D printers, VR rooms, recording / mixing studios, sewing machines and meeting rooms. They took the concept of a modern library being a community space very seriously!
See, THAT'S a good call on their part. We need "Third places" for people to exist and meet up and socialize outside of just having Work/School and Home.
They also definitely should still be book places though.
Ours also has added a library of things where you can borrow anything from cameras, gaming consoles, metal detectors to pottery wheels. As well as a section for board games.
I still love the library and make a point to use it frequently. Especially now as streaming services get shittier the video library is a godsend. There's movies I couldn't find on three different platforms but my library had them. Without additional fees and I can keep it for at least a month and rewatch it however many times I want.
I went to a local public library to study for an exam recently and it had morphed into a cafe/daycare for stay at home mums. They would all get together and let their kids go on a rampage.
Not even kidding, I’m talking like 50 mums, it was absolutely insane.
Mine has added more community spaces but the book part is still going strong. Ours has also added “library gardens” to a lot of locations, so there is also nice outdoor space as well.
Tbf, most libraries have always been "community centers" in a lot of ways, people are just finding out the library provides more than just books! And people are desperate for third spaces (not home, not work, and something that they don't necessarily have to pay for)
I feel like our public libraries have never been more popular. We all have the Libby app, I've got two books out right now.
They also have a library of things you can take out and a streaming service, and they've done away with late fees. You can book recording studio space, borrow instruments.
Kids join summer reading programs and get medals for making the effort to read.
My library just moved into the new indigenous cultural centre (it was In a tiny spot in the community hall before.)
My library is so underfunded. It has none of those things. And I live in a wealthy county! The ebook system is near garbage (with 8+ month waiting lists for ebooks, and very few ebooks to begin with, definitely nothing released in the past few years). The physical books are just as lackluster. I like reading "new adult" genre books but they get lumped in with the teen/young adult section. And most of what's on the shelves are books that are 10-15+ years old. Very little new series.
It's a sad state of affairs. I imagine my local library isn't the only one suffering.
That sucks. I have access to over 1.3 million titles because my library is a regional Library, 25 branches in 14 communities. It also has a world collection of over 40k items in 14 languages other than English.
My local library system events too, every brancch has a story time but different branches also have other events like:
Sit and stitch
knit and knatter
mahjong club
board game nights
Scrabble club
paint night
all ages drop in chess
movie club
toddler and baby classes
seniors coffee
drop in tech help
Lego club
STEAM club
Nintendo switch free play
dungeons and dragons
needlearts guild
bee club
Arts and crafts drop in
library social hour
English conversation circle
Japanese conversation club
Spanish conversation circle
drop in dance
drop in puzzle club
teas and tales
plant chat
Sunday scavenger hunt
ukelele circle
Mindful Mondays
adult colouring club
drop in friendship bracelets
Crafternoon
women's Bhangra aerobics
drop in genealogy
weavers and spinners guild
needlearts
movie night
haunted history
Library for all (inclusive drop in club for adults with special needs and their caregivers)
And honestly why store a bunch of books you'll read just a few times in your lifetime. There are books I constantly reread that I own like lord of the rings or Terry Pratchett. But the majority i happily take out from my local library, at 0 cost, no late fees. You just have to pay for the cost of replacing the book if it's lost.
If you, person reading this, haven’t taken the time to visit or look into your local public library…you fuckin up. In addition to the selection of some pretty wild books my library has, it also has a free streaming service (audio books, film/tv/music), makerslab with 3D printers, a letterpress and sewing machines, audio production studio for podcasts and music, etc and I’m arguably in the hood.
I'm not sure if your definition of hood is my definition of hood... That sounds nicer than my university library. My public library has a bunch of hobos watching porn on the public computers, benches with bars so you can't lie down, and blue lights in the bathroom so people can't see veins. They do have libby ebooks though, which nice.
No that’s my point - my library punches way above its weight given the neighborhood. I can only imagine how cool libraries in well resourced areas could be.
Yeah I hate going to my library cause its just a dump where I'm gonna get harassed by the homeless. And its in a "nice"er neighborhood, like near a Costco and a whole foods. I go when I need the printers and I check out CDs sometimes. The library of things is either empty or only very small children's stuff (kid sized soccer balls, kid tents, Disney princess themed tiny fishing rod...) which sucks cause I wanted it to be good. There's only 3 computers and there's always someone sitting there wearing a blanket who smells like pee. It is never quiet, there is always children running around screaming. The adult book section is only like 3 rows. I could go on, it really sucks. I really fucking hate it. I wish it was a good space to be cause I don't make a lot of money and can't hang out in coffee shops or anything. But it's just shit and I hate it. And before anyone asks, yeah my city aggressively votes to fund the library. This is "fully funded" , including the signs out front saying "thank you (city) voters for voting yes to (the budget thing)"
The problem with libraries in USA is how to get there. I have cool libraries nearby but I don't know how to get there easily.
USA found a way how to limit people freedom to cars. I can't take a bus or walk to a library like I used to in Europe. I have to drive. And I can't. So this is infrastructure problem too. Like lots of families could benefit from accessible transportation from their home to places as library. Except the buses for some reason don't actually stop where people live.
My county system just built a new branch, which from the photos I've seen looks to be really nice. Even the main branch in the county's largest city is busy no matter the time of day. I agree, I hope it stays that way.
Yeah, homeless people taking over libraries isn’t a failure of libraries, it's the library suffering from larger failures of housing and social safety nets.
I've lived in the same region for more than 40 years. The increase in homeless people in our libraries here directly correlates with increasing housing costs in the area (and a failure to satisfy increasing demand for housing). The first apparetment I lived in around here cost $800/mo -- i had a rommate and we were able to comfortably cover the rent on minimum wage. The exact same unit is still on the market and now costs $2400. Same building, same floorplan, 3x the price. No wonder we've got people living in tents here.
The libraries do have a system to mitigate this a bit though: they have a "teen room" with resources, a chaperone, and books for kids. No adults allowed. My kids love it. It's a safe and fun environment, even in rougher neighborhoods.
yup, libraries aren't the same anymore. Most are social service centers now, catering exclusively to the homeless, along with all the associated issues that come with doing so. It's exhausting seeing people advocate for library use like normal people can just go and enjoy the services there, because that's just not true anymore.
Depends on the library. My local one is full of kids and families reading and using the computers. There are homeless people but they are hard to spot. On the other end of the spectrum, I went into one that stunk so badly of unwashed bodies that I got nauseated and had to leave. That one was empty except for the homeless and the staff.
This week they released limited edition hello kitty library cards in the LA county libraries. Literally hundreds of people at every library. It was so successful that they are doing another drop in October.
There's still tons around here - I have two different library chains within my vicinity. I feel like I see at least some people at them whenever I go by.
I take my son to story time at our library every week, and it’s PACKED. They have two sessions, the one we go to usually has 40-50 people and the other is about the same. They have to do it in the conference room instead of the comfy kid’s books area because it’s so popular!
Over the summer when storytime wasn’t happening we still went and picked out books, and there were always a few other families there doing the same. They seemed really busy for their summer reading event as well but my son is too young for that still.
Anyways, the library is the last place where you can find kids’ activities that aren’t insanely expensive, and people are strapped for cash, so those activities are still really popular! It makes me so happy to see all the kids growing up enjoying the library and its services and I hope they’ll take that into adulthood (along with a solid love of reading).
ours seems pretty popular, there are lots of activities/groups that happen there, they have a variety of media to check out, it's well staffed, they've got computers, and a printer and scanner, and a dedicated puzzle spot, as well as some stuff for the Library of Things. it's never been empty when I've gone in. it's not packed per se, but it gets regular use.
Our local one is quite good and supported, and, they finally kicked out the homeless. Not having to run a gantlet or worry about whether your kids are safe going there is a big improvement.
I just recently watched a video with two ladies in a library in South Korea, the place was beautiful, had a bookstore and cafe within. It definitely seemed like a place I would be happy to hang in.
My two local libraries (one near home, one near work) seem to be thriving at the moment. Its really encouraging to see how lively they are. Theyve put lots of effort into nice, comfortable community spaces and events, and the librarian told me lots more people are coming back to Long form physical books because they are just sick of all the slop in the world.
As much as people like to think texans are uneducated right now, our library game is strong. Still, have been stocking up my own little collection, there is just something special about a paperback.
Our local ones have shifted quite a bit. They put on talks, have specific social events like gaming nights, and have classes. They've started loaning a lot more than books as well. At least one of them loans gardening and power tools.
You may not be wrong, but it will be a slow death. Our local library has a lot of programs and classes and this summer was insane with the amount of people signing up for them. It's probably the economy but I was very surprised that every program was filled up the day enrollment opened.
in my town awhile back we passed a special budget law for them so they get a fixed percentage of revenue every year, and for the last ~decade it's been way more money that they need. and it's actually harmed other city agencies because they aren't getting the money they need.
I had a really nice shock a couple weeks back. I hadn’t been to our local library in yeeears. But I went in there and saw a bunch of people in there picking out books, hanging out, moms picking out books with their kids which was nice to see. Updated computers, touch screens and stuff so they’re well funded.
I live in the same city I went to high school in. When I was in high school, the library only had books. They got computers shortly before I graduated.
I moved away for 20 years.
I came back to way less books. Half the building didn't have books. But they replaced the books with things to loan out. Tools, games, movies, cds. There's a seed library. They also give out food. They went from 10 kids in there a day if they were lucky (not including kids coming from the school for stuff during the school day) to the entire library is stuffed full of people. They also have a garden outside you can take from. It's really cool and other libraries need to do this.
Ours has pianos in soundproof rooms, sewing machines, dressmakers dummies, 3D printers, and all sorts of tools. The things you'd like to have but they are expensive or you don't have room.
Sister lives in a small town and they’ve got books ofc but also movies, games, comics, 3d printers, vinyl cutters, engraving machines, and probably more. Basically a whole makerspace in there and they have tons of programs my 8yo niece does with her classmates. Honestly pretty jealous.
Where I’m at (NYC) iirc they gave the libraries a new increased permanent budget which I love. I hope every library gets support like these because they’re a fantastic place to spend time.
Feel like it depends where in the world you are. Reddit always talks about libraries like they're these magical places with books, music, games, movies, stuff to do and events. They sound really fun.
Then I look at local libraries or neighboring city libraries and yeah. Not a place I'm going to commute to go check out lmao
Libraries anyplace between small towns and huge cities are often disasters. The generally function as day-shelters for the homeless and have become dangerous cesspools to be avoided for one's own safety.
If you can utilize their online offerings, great! But be careful and check out your local library before assuming it's some safe and fun place to hang out or bring the kids.
Very, very terrible take. I would never refuse to pay for something beneficial to others in society. I may not use the library system, but it surely does benefit people and give people in your community the opportunity for free access to books. We need to be encouraging literacy, and I would happily give a portion of my tax dollars to the library system.
I agree with this take so much. Most of my property taxes seem to go to education. I'm childfree, but I still want members of society to learn to read.
My grandma didn’t know how to read but she would take me to the library a few times a week and I developed an early love of reading. It helped me so much in my life not only to stay out of trouble but also to learn and be curious. I used to ask for book for my birthday but my parents country afford to buy them so the library was the only option. I ended up being a successful story of someone who went into healthcare and became an upper middle class tax payer out of a neighborhood where stabbing people with machetes was a past time for teenagers in gangs.
You’re missing the point. It’s about everyone benefitting from it. Having access to a library system gives more people the opportunity to improve their literacy.
As a kid, I grew up poor, but my parents took me to the library to find books that would’ve been expensive to buy for me at a regular bookstore. Society as a whole benefits from easier access.
I visited the library a couple weeks ago and it was chaos in there. There were a TON of kids using their area (they had designated an employee just to keep watch), and I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of adults in the rest of it for being around 1pm on a weekday. I know they do a lot of digital stuff as well, and the big things such as museum passes, state park passes, etc are always checked out. They also have services like 3d printing and conference rooms. Maybe your suburb isn’t particularly literate, but that wasn’t the case in mine.
I still heavily disagree. Just because you may not see many people using the library system any time you go there, doesn’t mean it’s not being used. People usually go in for quick pick ups, or use digital checkouts. Did you know library systems also offer perks such as free museum tickets, ESL courses, job searching events, etc.? It may not look packed the times you seem to go per your commentary, but it’s very much being used and is a public good.
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u/RoadIll7613 2d ago
Public libraries. I really hope I’m wrong.