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Speaking as a co-founder of a large community hackerspace, we don't have the volunteer bandwidth to manage the additional overhead of tool lending. Please, please, please let the libraries offer more alternatives. It's exactly their mission.

by iad10 hours ago|

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Libraries are so unfair to Mr. Bezos. They should obviously be demolished. But I'm concerned that their demolition would be an expansion of government "doing things". It would be best if interested parties simply be allowed to demolish them at will without interference from the state.

by brap10 hours ago|

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Agree, and I also don’t see why government should be involved in book rental. Why books and not say, car rental? What about jetski rental?

(If the argument is that subsidizing books helps the poor, I’m all for it, a nonprofit or a charity would be a much better framework)

This is the public sector M.O, instead of admitting something is obsolete they grab more scope and funding.

My local post office now sells iPhones. And why shouldn’t they? Nobody stopped them when they just sold SIM cards, and then cases and chargers. It’s like a law of nature.

by zajio1am7 hours ago|

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At least in EU, private book/media rental is not legal without special licensing from copyright holders, while public libraries have exception for this.

by ghaff4 hours ago|

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In the US, there's not much demand for media rental any longer (RIP Blockbuster)--which has been largely replaced by licenced media streaming--but there are certainly private libraries of various types.

by IshKebab9 hours ago|

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Because being able to read book is good for society.

> a nonprofit or a charity would be a much better framework

Why?

I do agree that libraries (in the UK at least) have mostly failed to see the writing on the wall and diversify. I used to live near a library that was on the edge of a super popular park. They had a "give us improvement suggestions" thing and I spoke to them about taking advantage of the park - it would have been a prime spot to open a cafe attached to the library. They actually couldn't comprehend that idea. Like, that's not what libraries are.