Cutting Libraries in a Recession

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• Full props to the sentiment, but to be more precise -- wouldn't cutting libraries during a recession be more like cutting pharmacies in a plague, and cutting education more like cutting hospitals?

• ehh, for a tech dude/promulgator, doncha know that most libraries are now being superceded by the interpipes? internet? known in some circles as DARPA-spawn? just sayin'

• Frank: Most libraries are adapting to become the go-to place to access the interpipes. Many people can only afford to get their broadband internet access at library computers.

  There's also the matter of a lot of information and literature existing only in dead-tree form.

• There is nothing that prevents a library from soliciting donations to advance their program. If a given library is truly a good idea those people with money to spend will donate it to a good cause. The inverse is worth keeping in mind. There are taxpayers who might need the money more than a library needs any given 1,000 books and the staff to support those books.

  I disagree with the analogy above. Per Wikipedia the bubonic plague hasn't been a significant natural issue for a hundred years and even if it resurfaced doesn't require a hospital to treat. The creator should have researched the analogy he was making.

• "The creator should have researched the analogy he was making."

  Yeah, but the library was closed down...

• Also - the interwebs have many, many, many virtues - but an editorial oversight process is mostly not one of them. Books still have the upper hand in verifiable accuracy.