It basically says that the library should survive because it can be
a) a free internet point
b) a provider of free online access to stuff
c) some things are better as dead tree format
I come from a small town where we _did not have a bookshop_.
If I had not had the small and crappy town library I would not have become a reader, I was one of the few users who actually got them to buy stuff _for me_, so please don't consider me as someone who wouldn't want libraries to survive.
But the above listed reasons are not compelling at best.
The second especially: why couldn't you have a nation-wide public access system? Why is every library reinventing this?
I tend to agree with you. It would be better to have a free access public access system (something like a minimal tap water access). But IMHO it's more difficult to setup something from scratch (on the political level) than to have at least the libraries providing the free access services. By closing them, we just loose this opportunity.
It basically says that the library should survive because it can be a) a free internet point b) a provider of free online access to stuff c) some things are better as dead tree format
I come from a small town where we _did not have a bookshop_. If I had not had the small and crappy town library I would not have become a reader, I was one of the few users who actually got them to buy stuff _for me_, so please don't consider me as someone who wouldn't want libraries to survive.
But the above listed reasons are not compelling at best. The second especially: why couldn't you have a nation-wide public access system? Why is every library reinventing this?