wot if the economy was like a library

I went to the bathroom in a library once and I felt real weird about it but I doubt anyone really even noticed.

Alright since apparently this needs clarifying for a few people: I felt weird because in society today we don’t get to use the washroom in places without being customers. This made me feel weird about using the washroom at a library, but the people there likely didn’t even care.

I am proud that I was able to help build a library in an exceptionally small borough immediately outside of Pittsburgh city limits. I thought I knew what libraries were before that project, but man, modern libraries serve so many niches that small boroughs can't ever hope to provide.

Sure, it had books, but it also had computers with largely uncensored fiber internet access. It had a tool library, with everything from screwdrivers to hydraulic suspension spring compressors. It had a small kitchen with a few cooktops for cooking classes. It had a back garage that was kitted and tooled as an auto mechanic workshop that hosted classes AND could be rented for DIY car maintenance. It had music, games, DVDs, atlases... Hell, they even rented eBooks! All stuff that poor kids of all stripes would never have access to otherwise.

It's definitely a place to hang out, but I wish people would dispense with the notion that a library is where the free books live. It has been so much more than that to so many people for almost a century now. Fight and protect your library, folks! You truly have no idea how many people make use of it unless you're there all day.

Free knowledge with virtually no barriers to access. Part of the reason republicans hate them so much. Imagine if libraries didn’t exist yet and someone proposed the idea in this current political landscape. republicans would vehemently oppose them.

They're also one of the few public spaces left where you can just sit in silence and no one asks if you're ok or starts talking loudly on their phone which is on speaker for no apparent reason or assumes since by their estimation you're "not busy" that you need to engage with them in some way

Living in Gwinnett County Georgia, I wish our libraries had more digital books and audiobooks.

That being said, I am more than happy that more money is put towards being an after school teen spot for high schoolers. It benefit a ton of kids with **** a safe place to chill right across from the high school. Play games, study, watch a show, just in general stay out of trouble. ****

I see this all the time, but is this person unaware of public parks?