Public Libraries are Great
I love the public library. I am lucky enough to live in a city that has quite a few libraries and one is less than a 5 minute drive away. It’s been renovated recently, so it has a modern design language, the book shelves are well spaced apart, and it has enough flat surfaces to set a laptop, and a few with built in outlets for charging. It has a little recording studio, a maker space with sewing and 3D printing, and dedicated rooms for reservation. It has a children’s section and public-use computer section. You can get paperbooks, magazines, DVDs, CDs, and even video games. Best of all, the public library is one of the last remaining places where you are not required to purchase something just to exist in that space.
I can just borrow these?
Libraries are of course best known for lending out books, but it’s the extra stuff that you can borrow that is just as beneficial to a modern household. I love getting a physical book, and ebooks, to read. This is the best way to find new authors that you’ll like and purchase the books, or get a book you know you’ll only read once. Being able to treat modern-day libraries like a Blockbuster, though, is the real major benefit. We just picked up the Minecraft movie from the library, and it’s still new enough that we had to return it within 3 days, but I didn’t have to buy the movie on a streaming service that will one day yank it from their offerings, and I didn’t have to pay to rent it and have 24 hours to watch it once we began. Movies that aren’t new usually give you a longer timeframe to watch them, so if you have kids that want to watch the same movie on repeat for the next week, it’s a little bit better. There are also TV series that you can do this with. And it’s not just movies or sitcoms, but educational series from the likes of National Geographic or PBS’ Nova. On top of that you can also check out games. Some of our city’s libraries have a much bigger selection, and as more and more games move to digital-only releases as well as indie titles that can’t justify the cost of physical releases, that selection will dwindle. For a long time the librarie carried Wii, Wii U, PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series games. Now, though, it appears it’s just the last 2 generations.
One thing that is sad to see is when the library removes an item from circulation. Just like a store and even the maligned big tech companies, nothing is forever. At least with the library, and stores, it makes sense to clear out items nobody views because there is a finite amount of physical space.
A place to exist with few requirements
One of the best things about the library is that it’s one of the last public places where there’s nothing demanded of you other than you be respectful of the other folks in the building. I’d say being hygenic would be in there, but that’s not always the case. Why is this important? In my own experience, I like to leave the house on occasion and go either write these blog posts or maybe do some scripting, or just get out of the house and go wander the shelves for a bit. I realize I can do all of those things at other shops, but that’s the key. Those are businesses, trying to make money. You can go to a coffee shop and write, sure. You can go to a bookshop and browse, or an entertainment store, or a gamestore. But each of those will have ads and salesfolks trying their best to fulfill the function of that business and make money. There is also social pressures to purchase when at these locations. The Library, though, is something that’s paid for up front and then no longer hounds you for being there.
A side benefit of all this, is that it’s also quite serene and peaceful most of the time at the libraries. One of my favorite times is at a Library much further away than my normal one, but it has a big beautiful viewing area with tables for laptops and such, and you look out over a park. During the spring and autumn it’s always gorgeous. Summer can be a bit too bright and hot on that side. But the winter is when it can almost be a meditative space. When you’re there and there’s a nice snowfall happening outside, it’s just perfect. Not every library has something like this, but because of the nature of being respectful, which usually includes patrons being quiet, you have a chance to exist outside your home in a space that is more peaceful than the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
A community hub
As mentioned before, there’s more than books and movies at the libraries. There’s new rooms that cater to the world we live in now. You can now learn at-home manufacturing or use the library’s tools instead of a steep up-front investment of your own. You can use better equipment than what you’d get for home without a steep cost. And there are always events at the libraries. Crafting, learning, and teaching if you so choose. I myself don’t use these services, but we do take the kids to do some of those low-cost or no-cost activities.
Conclusion
I’m sure I don’t need to convice most folks that the library is great, but it’s nice to be reminded why they’re great, and maybe that you should go and check yours out again if it’s been a while. Check out a book or a movie or a cd. Pull a magazine off the rack and sit and read for a moment. Slice out some time in the day to just exist outside your home.