Do you still go to the library?

[Sid]

I don't go often but as it happens I went to the library this morning.

[Squirtle]

I still go to the library but more for studying than to borrow books :-) I really like the atmospher in a library, it is mostly quiet and everybody is so concentrated and lost in their work :-)

[RobertX]

I don't like to borrow books as such; I usually buy them off a library book sale, franchise book stores, and download off Internet. The reasons I don't like to borrow books are that I'm a slow reader and the I don't like the idea of being pressured into returning it as I am a slow reader and I can't finish book in time.

Furthermore, I like to collect items: videos, audio CDs, and lecture notes, so there's no helping me there.

My two Canadian dollars.

[readerdude]

Sure, but not really to borrow books, but to read, learn, work. Closing libraries is a big mistake governments do, even if you can get everything online.

[jackysparrow]

Yes, but mainly to have a good place where I can focus and study

[Philidor]

No, I don't. Last time was perhaps seven, eight years ago. I have a pretty good-sized library at home, thanks to my days as a book reviewer back in the 1970s. Plus, there's the Web.

That said, I'm not at all opposed to libraries, particularly when they offer access to materials you can't find anywhere else--such as original manuscript musical scores from the 14th century. And books do serve an important role for kids, in my opinion, since it gives them something physically tangible to hold when they're absorbing information. (And kids are very tangible creatures.)

I arranged a large "block party" event for our subdivision (about 180 homes) last year, and took months convincing the county library system to send a bookmobile. They'd had cutbacks--after all, who the fuck needs libraries, a working infrastructure, or a decent educational system, when you can just throw money at spooks and the military?--and they'd focused in the past on the local city, rather than the county at large. The response was such when they got here, though, that they decided for the first time to put us on their route each week this spring and summer. They'll actually be parking in front of our house.

May not use them, but I feel libraries are important.

[malloc_free]

I have been to the library lately, but not to read a book, just to use the free wifi. Have not read a physical book in ages. I just torrent my ebooks and read them on my cellphone.

[RobertX]

Well, I found myself going back to the library to borrow and burn movies and TV shows if applicable; I don't download as much anymore. I just collected some seasons of Game of Thrones. Season 8 is already there at the touch of a computerised reservation system.

There are computers there for use for 30-60 minutes of use. I just grab hold of one, use at the allotted time and jump to another one if it's available.

In one of the adjacent libraries, there are 3D printers, employment programmes, and books/DVDs for sale for reasonable prices. Just bought a John Grisham book, "The Whistler" for 0.50 CDN.

But I would still not borrow books. Too much to read and with too little time.

[Broccado]

You had me there when you said that cause mine's situations is same as ya. Well, in my case, I prefer both, reading in library and reading ebooks.

[waregim]

As a book collector, with well over 10,000 - its been years since I've read a printed book.

I find them difficult to read as my eyes are not accustomed to them, and for research type materials, nothing beats an etext search, as most indexes suck.

For me the value of a book lies in its binding, its paper, its typography, its provenance, and its smell. It should have a slight whiff of tobacco, and smoke from ancient lanterns.

The words? Not so much.