tbh not always, at one public library I went to I was asked to pay a membership fee, even though I only wanted to sit at a desk with my laptop
That’s somewhat common here if you don’t live in the area that the library system serves. For instance you might live over the county line but this library is still far closer than the ones your taxes go to.
Spikes on benches, fees on library membership.
I would imagine the author is referring to indoor public spaces, to which I wholeheartedly agree.
Depending on where you live, there may not be a lot of outdoor public spaces either
Agreed, but the author is not highlighting the lack of public spaces in general, but specifically a lack of public spaces where there isn’t an expectation to spend money.
In my experience, the expectation to spend is greater at indoor spaces than outdoor, so with this distinction, I agree with the author. If taken as originally written, I would think the number of outdoor public spaces far outweigh the number of libraries in any community, but YMMV.
There are parts of the world where outdoor spaces are basically unusable for most of the year because it's either too hot or too cold.
When the temperature is reasonable, you can use parks, forests, lakes, rivers, beaches, pedestrian malls, bike paths, etc. Many cities have public basketball courts, tennis courts, skate parks, hockey rinks, and similar things. In some less busy areas you can even use the streets. Street hockey and/or street futbol are pretty common in some areas.
But, extremely hot weather, or extremely cold weather can mean that being outside is terrible. You can dress warmly for winter, and that's fine to do sports. So, you could go cross-country skiing in the winter in a park. But, you can't really just hang out outside when it's -10C.
It would be great if there were more indoor options for places with bad winters and/or bad summers.
That's because in English, the word public means you can walk into without being a Lord. Which means a public space can be a private property.
In Latin derived languages, public means owned by government. So a public park, public library, public company or public university, are 100% owned by the government.
So when I studied in my public university, yes I would spend on books and food, but it has a built in rule that it is forbidden to charge students or staff for anything.
Well my local library disagrees because they expect me to pay my late fees, smh.
To be in the building?
spoiler
Of course not, I was just joking.
Went to a library to hang out with a friend today. It was delightful! Libraries are truly a treasure
Isn't that just.. basically everywhere?
Not in a lot of places in the US, super not in cities. Yeah you can get away without spending money but the expectation is there, and often baked into how people socialize as well
Well that sucks
I live in a small Australian city.
There are 100s of kms of beaches, most with free BBQs and showers.
100s of kms of walks, hikes, bike paths.
There's mountain bike stuff, skate parks, dirt jumps, basketball courts, soccer fields, lakes.
There's loads of parks. Some of them have heaps of stuff for kids.
We have a village square also. Just a bigbgrass area in the city with free WiFi and often events and things.
All of these things are public spaces with no expectation of spending money. My city isn't unusual in Australia.
That's what I/we want in North America, but for some reason people always think they have to drive a vehicle to within one meter of their desired destination.
Ye that's how it's here too
That concept is incompatible with capitalism, libraries must be eradicated!
If the idea of a public library was proposed today this would pretty much be the response.
It's basically communism! /s
I watched as the library system that I went to as a kid and then i work at turn into a popular library. Popular libraries only focus on shallow surfacey books and they get rid of older collections and instead of having more books they have floating collections which means that there are less books in the system or too many stupid books in the system. I watched the city around me become more destitute with more desperate unhoused people who would use the facility as a place to clean themselves in the sink. Or sometimes they didn't get the mental health treatment that they needed, then they would harass the patrons. I watched and saw how the libraries had to have security. and cameras everywhere. And the place became less free and more like the world outside of the walls of the library. Not only did I not just watch, I also talked to people about this, but they always thought I was being a little bit extreme or conspiratorial. They're going to get rid of libraries completely. And just like back in the day, they're scared of a proletariat who is educated. AOC and Bernie are not going to help you. And I'm old enough to know and see the changes that are going on around me. it is accelerating. The Global Fascistic Order is set in place and they are pulling on the levers, trying to shorten your life spans, While encouraging you to breed like rats. overextending yourself and being buried in debt. Also to inhibit your...access to information and your ability to speak freely. By the way, an oligarch is a byproduct of a capitalist system. China is a capitalist country and so is Russia. The world is connected through a global supply chain. ♪♪♪ Because workers don't have self-awareness or the leverage to exert their will, we are now in a world with absolutely no chance of communism. So what you see today is the byproduct of the capitalist system. Use your imagination. Along with, I don't know it seems like a simple logic, but as the world gets dumber, some of the crazy ideas that you come up with in your head will actually become reality. the people that run things are such basic bitches. The people that rule over us are stupid. Like here's a prediction. In the future, it won't be in your best interest to have children for real. And the government will probably incentivize you to have children by paying you to have kids. And you'll do that. But not only will this create a whole generation of unwanted children with psychological issues, they will also pull the rug and you won't get that economic reward. And it could be said that this is already happening, but I think it'll just become more obvious as time progresses. There is no war but the class war.
Which is one of the reasons the fascist GOP is attacking them.
I hate to say it, but they actually do need you to spend money. Your attendance and checkouts allow them to draw tax money to operate. You're not paying at the door, you're paying from your paycheck, and if people don't go, they shut them down.
It's not all doom and gloom. That tax is a great return on investment, helping to lift people out of low places and providing community service equal to all. But they're not free, and you are spending money, just not directly
This library isn’t profitable; we should close it.
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Libraries don't fund themselves. It's more like your money is being wasted if you're not using them.
You can do this anywhere that is freely accessible. Beaches and parks as an example.
