We don't really need them in this day and age, do we? People can download the classics on their iPad/Kindle or go and buy won from a charity shop
As sad as it is, surely they've had their day?
they are about more than borrowing books and the four I would go into (Archway, Highgate, Kentish Town and occasionally Camden were always busy). Particularly useful for older people to get access to the internet. I also borrowed the odd book or two as I had more than enough clogging up my flat - unlike a Kindle, books don't tend to break when you accidentally hit them with your knee on a coach
for people who don't normally have it.
support such things as a means of showing what it (we) believe in.
...it is access to books and information for those who would otherwise go without. Libraries also provide useful children services and information for those who might not otherwise have it. More to the point, not everyone has an ipad, kindle or internet for that matter. It's very easy when one lives a charmed middle class life to imagine everyone is the same. Technology is not equally distributed, like everything else...
As more historical maps and books are scanned in and made available online, and when most people have internet in their homes, I just don't see a need to store multiple copies of books in multiple buildings
rude words in very large dictionairies.