My assumption is that it would be popular. So popular that the library would decide on sell a little snacks, sandwiches and soft drinks to earn a little money. And as the sale opens, they would realize that they get a lot higher profit on alcoholic drinks. And since they are selling alcoholic drinks, it’s unresponsible to have them in the same area as the daily area with books and study groups. Then they open a new section, maybe in a new location. And to save money on labour, they drop the non alcoholic products.
Of course this is taking it a bit far, but my point is that such a service has incremental steps, where each step would likely give higher profit until it is just a pub.
What if libraries served drinks. Or quiet pub. I’d be jazzed. That said, I wish libraries were more conducive as social spaces. I know they run events sometimes, but in general time I feel like people aren’t approachable
Actually the public libraries I know have long abandoned the concept of enforced silence (and librarians ‘suggesting’ what the patrons should and shouldn’t read).
They already have different areas for different needs. And often a café close by or integrated (at least in larger cities). In fact the opening hours are most likely the main reason people don’t socialise there in the (late) evenings.
Actually there have been several instances where staff members forgot to lock the entry and libraries have been used outside of their opening hours - without any supervision - and the cool part is that nothing has been vandalized or stolen. Kind of like when libraries abandoned fees for overdue media and the number of returned stuff (in time and long overdue) increased significantly. Libraries have a more central position in our culture than most people realize, they only need to adapt to the times and (re)gain some respect of the public. As institutions they might be more needed than they have been in a long time (providing also reliable information, helping to gain (information) literacy and so on).
We are blessed with a small but gorgeous local library that looks like a Frank Lloyd Wright creation, full of natural light. The stacks are lovingly curated and the computer services are great. Wonderful garden out front, friendly staff inside, and modern equipment that makes checkout a breeze. We can reserve books online or check if they are in, etc.
Anyway, after school, our kid walks to the end of the block with her friends and goes into the library. From there, we pick her up. That place is jumping in the afternoons, let me tell you. All the local regulars and all the kids just out of school: littles and teenagers. It’s busy and alive but not noisy (nor are they oppressive assholes about keeping silence). It’s a moment of civic joy to walk in there and get my daughter.
This concept is the “third space” – a social space other than work and home where people can congregate, socialize, and relax. Parks and libraries are some of the only remaining spaces in capitalism where people can be humans without paying for the privilege to exist by the minute.
True, that is what the concept has become. But we need to remember that “third place” originally ment places of business like pubs, cafés, barbershops etc.
Modern cities do need the kind of places you ment - not more malls or apple stores (think I read that it’s a new trend to have those resemble places you can casually chill so they can casually sell you their stuff).
Lots of them already do. I live in a small town and my library has 2 conference rooms and a room where book readings take place. Loud activities happening throughout the day not interrupting people in the quiet areas.
Eh fair. Still to me this is just a weird idea. It’s like the top comment suggested it looks like OP is trying to think of a coffee shop. That’s a good place to be social if you don’t want to go to clubs and shit like that.
Yeah there are massively better options and every time I’ve seen a similar conversation happen and a librarian shows up they have a million good reasons why libraries shouldn’t be social hubs. I just thought I’d be a bit cheeky.
That’s awesome! The Seattle Central Library closes at 6pm. Like how the fuck are people supposed to use a public resource when it closes as soon as they get off work? It’s hella dumb.
The issue probably goes deeper. I’m sure they have struggles/difficulties about having more accessible hours. I do wish my libraries had better hours too though.
I think it might have something to do with the explosion of homelessness in Seattle over the last few years. When I moved to Seattle ten years ago that library was amazing, and open pretty late (I think 8 pm). But last time I went there like a year ago it was completely overrun with homeless people. They were everywhere in the library, just sitting around doing nothing (not reading or using computers), and dozens of them were outside of every entrance too. So, I think they might have adjusted the hours because of that, instead of directly dealing with the problem. I don’t really have an issue with homeless people taking advantage of a public resource, that’s why it’s there, but a lot of other people do, and the city has to consider everyone’s perspective.
There should be a better solution for homeless people than for them to have to overrun places like that. It’s sad, and detrimental to all sides. That’s crazy to think about how it used to be a place that could stay open like you said, and then turned into something else that wasn’t able to because of external influences and impacts.
Where’s the resiliency?
There’s got to be some kind of proactive way of dealing with an issue like this vs. going the ‘limit hours’ route, which harms the accessibility of everyone. This is probably affecting a lot of libraries right now.
A bookstore that also had a cafe in it. People would go there and buy a drink or whatever and read. The problem was after reading they didn’t have to buy the book. I read a ton of comic books for the price of a coke back then. A library set up like this would be pretty cool.
I like it, and can it have a dedicated place to draw/create? What’s the auditory experience going to be like? You’re going to have to tell us more about this cafe you’re ‘never’ going to have XD
You gotta pay to be at a coffee house. And sure, coffee isn’t terribly expensive and most places won’t kick you out even hours after you’ve bought your single cup of coffee, but non-Starbucks coffee shops are usually tiny and in some places hard to find.
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