I wonder if we’d be better off if we donated to library collections of audiobooks, films, and music rather than subscribing to Audible, Netflix, and Spotify?
Libraries actually still do a lot. They’re community centers, give people access to computers, host classes, and some have maker spaces.
Libraries also have librarians, who can help with research and who invest time curating the collection.
Finally, library collections are permanent. Books, music, films, stay in the collection. And libraries share with each other so it’s possible to work with a local library to borrow from other libraries around the world.
> They’re community centers, give people access to computers, host classes, and some have maker spaces.
In some places, they do this and are open enough that people can actually take advantage of them. But there are many communities in North America and Europe where library opening hours have been seriously cut back. They simply cannot serve as useful community centers any more if they are closed more often than they are open.
> And libraries share with each other so it’s possible to work with a local library to borrow from other libraries around the world.
Whether one’s local library participates in ILL schemes, and whether that is available to patrons without oppressive fees, is also something that differs from place to place.
