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Books and looks: gen Z is ‘rediscovering’ the public library (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 9 months ago by Five@slrpnk.net to c/libraries

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[–] PotentialProblem@sh.itjust.works 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I’d love to know how regularly the physical books at the library are checked out. Outside of children’s sections, most folks I see there when I go are just looking for a place to chill/work/ use a computer. If the data matches that observation, I wonder if we could better serve our communities by focusing less on physical books and more on providing a community center.

My local library has a lot of wasted space… and I’d love to see more community activities.

That’s not to say we couldn’t have physical books, just maybe it’s a request/pickup situation. Probably fewer MLSs needed that way as well.

[–] alex@jlai.lu 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I've checked out 38 books last year, and I'm not the only person who checks out books :) I also got a bunch of them from browsing shelves, not from looking for them specifically. Let's fight for more community spaces − if we have enough, libraries will be able to be actual libraries!

[–] PotentialProblem@sh.itjust.works 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I’d support additional community spaces for sure! Just seems like that’s impossible for whatever reason, but overall I agree!

In my proposal, I wouldn’t eliminate books just their space on the floor. How would you feel about being able to place a hold on a book and picking it up from the library/community space? Would it matter to you that you wouldn’t be able to peruse the stacks? (Except virtually)

[–] alex@jlai.lu 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

As I said, I get a certain number of books (about one third) from perusing stacks. I am generally against « over optimization » in community spaces − I enjoy serendipitous discovery, finding out things exist while I'm there and stumble upon them, and would not spend that time on a computer. I do place holds on all the other books I get :)

[–] PotentialProblem@sh.itjust.works 1 points 9 months ago

Fair enough! Thanks for the take