I don't go to libraries much anymore. Ten years ago, when I was in high school, it was still necessary to make the trip for research purposes, but these days I can find everything I need on the internet. If I want to buy a rare book I don't have to search very hard: I can have it delivered right to my door by Amazon with a few clicks of my mouse.
I went to the central branch of the Los Angeles Public Library a couple weeks ago, and most of the people there were standing in line to borrow free DVD movies, not books. One of the patrons remarked to me that it was brilliant of the library to expand its services by loaning out movies, but why? Merely to perpetuate the library's own existence? There are plenty of Blockbusters around, and I really don't see why my tax dollars should support an institution that loans out movies for free.
I'm told that in the far distant past, before mega-bookstores like Barnes & Noble and Borders, the library was the only place in town to find anything other than the currently most popular best-sellers. In such an environment, libraries have a purpose. In the modern world, however, I really don't see the point. Books are cheap and widely available to everyone, and I think the era of the public library should come to a close.
Rather than disappear, I anticipate that libraries will evolve along with the niche that they fill, continuing to provide valuable public services for some time into the future. I've been to a few libraries recently, thouh I admit that they were all University affiliated, and in addition to the claustrophobic aisles of dusty tomes written in ancient languages, I found computers. Computers, and computer-users.
Now, I recognize that the internet represents a revolutionary new paradigm of information distribution and access, and all that. But I also think that there is, and always will be, huge variation in the ability of people to exploit the advantages of the revolutionary-paradigm-of-the-day, whether due to limited access to technology, education, etc.
High-speed data communication is relatively easy in the US, and it continually grows less expensive and more pervasive. But this is not the case everywhere, YET. I don't even have an internet connection in my apartment in Japan, much less broadband. And I am no exception. Yet I can go to the Kyoto City Library and surf to my heart's content, order rare books from Amazon, read US newspapers, etc.
People who do NOT live on the cutting edge of technology, and by definition there will always be such people, can nonetheless benefit both themselves as individuals and society as a whole from having access to such technology via centralized information distribution centers such as libraries.
The day of rows upon rows of dusty tomes may be coming to a close, but if libraries evolve to meet the changing information-access needs of the public, libraries will be around for a while. It used to be books (which in the past were relatively rare and expensive), now it's the internet (which is still rare and expensive in some places), tomorrow it'll be something else.
And, truly, I think providing access to such resources is a very valuable contribution to society. How else would I read Master Of None while I'm in Kyoto?
I suppose it was seeing lines of people waiting to check out free DVDs that really turned me off to the whole library thing. Most Americans have internet access at home by now, I believe. I just have the feeling like libraries have outlived their usefullness, in our civilization. Other places might take time to catch up.
You probably don't know this, but I am a huge supporter of libraries. Why? Well, despite my otherwise libertarian beliefs, this government subsidized loaning of media will ensure that vast amounts of information will never be limited to those who have the money to pay for it. I agree with capitalism in most every aspect of our lives, but not with access to books, information, and tools of education. I think the expenditure is worth the result.
I'm a volunteer at the San Antonio Public Library used bookstore, which is one way we pay for things at the library (so it's not completely dependent on government money -- we raised about 35,000 dollars this year). Also, I see hundreds of people a day using the library to read books, access computers, and obtain information from any and every other library in the U.S. (and I'm stuck down in the basement).
And I totally agree with Nicholas, especially when he says:
People who do NOT live on the cutting edge of technology, and by definition there will always be such people, can nonetheless benefit both themselves as individuals and society as a whole from having access to such technology via centralized information distribution centers such as libraries.
Oh fine then, maybe I was just being overly crotchety.
University research libraries are good. That's the thing, I think libraries could survive without taking tax dollars. Charge $5 a year for membership or something, and sell used books like Courtney said. I love library used book stores and I've bought boxes of books from them before.
I think libraries would be more useful and successful if they were molded by competition, rather than funded by taxes.