Why libraries are terrible.

[the_antithesis]

So, I've been loading crappy games onto my 3DS to get some fucking use of of the thing since I haven't calmed down enough yet after I rage quit from Luigi's Mansion. Fucking thing! What I have been most interested in lately are the game & Watch games, which there are some on the Nintendo E-shop, but not a lot and not many of the good ones. They do have the first two Game & Watch Galleries for Game Boy, which are functional if annoying having to load the game and not necessarily knowing which one has the game I want to play. Besides the Galleries are a couple individual G&W games and I'm pretty fucking snotty over which ones I want. I got Mario's Cement Factory because it's a classic. I'm hemming and hawing over Manhole (that's what she said) and Donkey Kong Jr. But I really don't care for Ball, Chef Vermin, Helmet, Flagman and Judge. These were some of the earlier and therefore less sophisticated G&W games. But you know what, as a kid I might have gotten one of these games and would up playing the hell out of it because it was the only game I had. In fact, that was true of my NES and Atari and Commodore ViC-20 (stop laughing). But now, thanks to emulators and ROM sites and Good Old Games and Steam and Nintendo's eShop, I can have a ton of games, many of which are great to play, but i just never play them. I'm thinking of getting Netflix so I don't have to use my brother's entirely too much projection TV to watch a movie, but how many movies of TV shows do I watch? I used to have a fairly sizable library of DVDs that I never watched until I got rid of them and since them I acquired a few more and I never watch any of them. I never watch TV shows anymore because I can watch those shows whenever I want. I used to have a schedule that revolved around TV so I can watch the shows I wanted. But I don't do that anymore.

This has got me thinking that having a large library where you can access media any time you want may be a bad idea since, for the most part, people simply won't do it. Why sit down and watch 24 when you can watch it any old time you want? Why play through the two Legend of Zelda Oracle games when you can just download them and play them anytime? How many hear checked books out of their school library growing up? How many of you have checked out a book since graduation? I haven't used a public library in years and not just because I don't read that much anymore. I own books that I never read.

Having access to a large cache of media means you won't bother using any of it. Why? I'm not sure. Part of it is being spoiled for choice. Part of it is the lack of urgency. Why watch Arrested Development when it is likely to always be there when you want it? It's not like you have to arrange your schedule around catching it when it was originally available and only then. If you missed it, you had to wait for it to rerun. No more. You don't have to be organized or determined to watch that show or play that game or read that book. Just press a button if you feel like it. The irony is that by having to only press a button means you'll never feel like it.

[Hydra009]

I loved by library growing up, but nowdays, I can just browse a bookstore and buy it outright if it appeals to me.  I don't really feel the need to rent and wouldn't even take in piss in my old library, which pretty much looks like crap now (secondhand account from a relative).  Come to think of it, their selection was always pretty crappy and excessively dated.  Good riddance.

A massive selection doesn't necessarily breed ennui, though I see how it can.  I have quite a few books, but I still like getting new ones or rereading old ones.

[the_antithesis]

I wonder if you put every book you re-read over the course of five years into a box, how many there would be in the box.

[Plu]

Effectively, the internet has become the library, and we check out the books when we feel like reading/watching something by downloading it. There's no longer any need to download stuff beforehand if you don't want to, because connections are fast enough to stream it on demand.

Also, one must wonder how much they really care about a book/movie/series if one cannot be bothered to watch it unless it's "now or never". More likely, the fact that you aren't watching it means you simply don't want to watch it because you have better stuff to do.

[Armada]

I used to practically live in my library. When I didn't have internet, I went to the library to do my research. When I needed books for college research, I looked in the library since a book store doesn't carry older titles and buying it on line took entirelly too long. Even now, in the days of ebooks, you can't get every old book on your ereader. And to this day, when my internet goes, I run to the library with my laptop because I make a living on line.

I must admit, I haven't checked anything out for over a year now, because I have way too many books on my to read shelf (more like an entire book case) and not nearly enough time to actually do it, but for kids who need excess to information because they simply don't have internet or money to buy the very same games and books...

I'm happy to say that my local library has a huge sellection of everythign immaginable. It's a three storry building that always has a ton of people roaming around. Also happy to say that they are doing great financially. They recently sold a painting that was hanging there for god-knows-how-long for a few million bucks, so they got enough to stay afloat for quite a while.

[The Skeletal Atheist]

The last time I stayed at the library for any length of time I got the joy of discovering that someone pooped in the urinal in their bathroom. Before that there use to be a notice in the bathroom that were making note of who comes in and out because, exact quote, "someone has been pooping on the floor and covering it up with toilet paper!!!!". I do hope they caught the serial pooper.

My library does have free language classes though, so I might start going again for that.

[Aroura33]

My family visits our local library weekly. My kid loves the play area, but also want to get books on animals and insects, as well as story books. Plus we get her a variety of reading level appropriate books so she can continue to develop that skill over the summer.
I also cannot afford to get subs to my favorite sewing magazine, threads, so I just check those out instead, and photocopy patterns and other interestin tip pages and file them.

I love the library. I get a book or two a month for myself to read, to suppliment my ebooks, and dozens of kids books. My dad also checks out a lot of books on tape, now that his eyesight is getting bad.

I don't know, I guess I just never grew out of it. Or maybe it is a regional thing. I have never stopped using my local libraries, and I find them useful, and entertaining!

[Shiranu]

I wonder if you put every book you re-read over the course of five years into a box, how many there would be in the box.

That would be one empty box...

[the_antithesis]

A massive selection doesn't necessarily breed ennui, though I see how it can.

I don't know if it's ennui, but I'm more contrasting it with how it was before the availability was there. I used to watch a lot more TV when I was younger. Maybe I have just found other things to do to waste my time, but I used to watch more when I had to watch to be able to see it.

[Hydra009]

I wonder if you put every book you re-read over the course of five years into a box, how many there would be in the box.

About 10 books.  I read about 10 books per year, and 2 of those are rereads (I'm a bit of a slow reader)

[Solitary]

Last time I went to a library it was filled with transients trying to get out of the heat outside---117 degrees.  all their books in the library were outdated accept philosophy, religion, and self help books.    Solitary

[AllPurposeAtheist]

You sound like quasi-republicans telling the world what a waste public libraries are. Next you'll tell us what a fucking waste it is to have a municipal water supply when it fucking rains..
Don't like to go to libraries? Stay the fuck home crybabies.
And stop inventing fake shit to fucking hissy bitch about.. :roll:

[Plu]

What a well reasoned and properly thought out argument. You present the perfect combination of name-calling, logical fallacies, and disdain to convince me your opinion is best.

[Solitary]

[-X    Solitary

[Thumpalumpacus]

lol @ "ragequit".