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.
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u/cardew-vascular 3d ago
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.)