Ode to Libraries (the Book Ones)

Oh you have much more than we have.. I live in a relatively small city, so there are not many events or offerings, but I'd love to have a bigger community in there. Even hanging out with your people, sharing daily life is such a wholesome connection. I'm happy to see that there are people from all over the world who value libraries in different ways.

I totally feel what you mean about design. The library I used back in university was really tasteless and carelessly designed (if we can even call it "designed"), and I wouldn’t have used it if I didn’t have to. This one, I got lucky.

I hope both the authorities and the public will continue, more and more, to do their best to make libraries more valuable and beautiful.

Mentioned in the article, I'm not sure if libraries work the same way in everywhere. But this one has literally free co-working spaces that anyone, including remote workers, students, or readers could use. Also quoting from an aspiring-librarian: "It always makes me happy to see someone using their local library as the community space it was meant to be!" Probably different countries, cities or organizations have different uses for libraries.

quote from: https://inchwyrm.bearblog.dev/

It's true of almost every public service that it wouldn't scale to handle everyone simultanously.

Suppose that literally everyone decided to check out books from the library: many libraries, especially smaller ones, would quickly become empty of books!

I work from home, and I could work at the library, but I prefer to work from home, because I prefer my home environment to the library environment. I did work from the library quite a bit when my internet was out for a week, and it was a great relief to have the library available. I don't think there's a danger of overcrowding, though, because there's nothing now stopping people from working at libraries, and it hasn't been a problem AFAICT.

The author is not revealing any hidden, top secret fact that nobody knew before.

That assertion is very location dependant.

It's certainly common across a lot of Australia, including libraries running dedicated facilities for co-working and makerspaces. As an example: https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/visit/spaces/edge/bookable-spaces.

Both state (https://precinctqld.com.au/) and local (https://businesshub.brisbane.qld.au/coworking) governments then also run free or heavily subsided workspaces if you need something less ephemeral too.

That doesn’t sound to me as entitled, more like acknowledging that they’re not the market most coffee shop owners are targeting. I’ve known a few places with target laptop workers but commercial real estate pricing in many markets is brutal in a way that libraries are less exposed to.

Fair point, but we can’t ignore the fact that many coffee shops provide desks with power outlets, and sometimes even dedicated workspaces, and that this has become a clear trend. These coffee shops also earn revenue from customers who want a workspace, and they incorporate this into their marketing. So, cafes don’t rely solely on coffee sales; the environment they provide contributes significantly to their income. Many people choose cafes as an alternative way to spend time outside. Therefore, some bussinesses aim to offer a workspace, some a social space, and some simply create an environment for spending time. And their offer just don't work for me. I'm not demanding anything from them; I just don’t use their business.

I thought you were a bit harsh by calling it entitled, but then I saw “Then rent an office or subscribe to a co-working space? What? I get paid to work, not to pay for it.” Right afterwards, so I’m included to agree that there is definitely some kind of entitlement going on.

The irony is that even as this person complains about “paying to work”, libraries are often immensely expensive and he pays for that library with every paycheck and tax bill.

   Leaving your warm bed, rising before the sun in the morning (and I’m a morning person believe it or not), getting ready, commuting, traffic, thinking about what to eat in the office, commuting again, leaving you no time to live your life.

<< The point of a coffee shop isn't to provide you with a nice space to work but to sell coffee.

Sure, but a coffee cup is not exactly expensive or difficult to make. The reason why companies tried so hard to make it inviting or 'third space' or whatever corporate types call it these days is that it helps sell severely overpriced sugar drinks of added caffeine.

This is not a shot at Starbucks. I love me some creme brulee, but it is important to recognize it for what it is.

Similarly, if it indeed is user entitlement that caused patrons to visit coffee shop and enjoy their drink in a nice space, then it was very much encouraged by corps for a good while ( for good reasons too -- apart from the historical ).

I have chosen not to buy this coffee.

> Astonishingly entitled. The point of a coffee shop isn't to provide you with a nice space to work but to sell coffee.

How is this entitled? The author is just stating, accurately, that coffee shops are not conducive to working all day there. The author did not demand that coffee shops change to accommodate; to the contrary, the author simply chose a different venue.

Something like 60% of a coffee shop Cost of Goods Sold is rent. You aren't really paying for coffee when you sit down with a cup.

On video calls, the library I go to is in some kind of cultural center & community space mix. So there are some common spaces that you can talk, and a cafetaria. These alone solve my problems for quick un-planned video calls. For daily meetings or planned pair programming sessions, I also wait for the meeting then head over to library.

Not sure what city you're in, but this has not been my experience with several NYC libraries.

Sounds like they need rules that state you are only allowed in if you actually want to use the library for its intended purpose.

It sounds like you experienced this in some American city and generalized to all? This absolutely not true for Boston Public Library which is an immensely convenient place to WFH, read, or write. I also never experienced this in NYC public libraries, nor in the main Philadelphia library.

Imho public library systems in US cities are absolutely incredible, and arguably one of the best perks of living in the US period.

They definitely aren't as good as they could be, but I have always been able to get stuff done if I reserve a study room. Even suburban libraries are better like that

Would love to see your Lonon map / list!

> Now I moved to London and I'm doing the same

Could you share your map for London?

Absolutely, there are some coffee shops. Like you when I was in Istanbul, there were lots and lots of coffee shops, some of them even has two floors with top floor spared for working. Now I moved to a smaller city and I don't have these options anymore. That part was just my current experience. Also, thanks for sharing your list! I love spending time around the world in google maps, this will be my fun for today.

I believe most of them have common spaces or work-together-rooms. But again, every library has different use cases..

My local library has soundproof conference rooms (we made heavy use of them as high-school students when doing group study for exams), so in some libraries you can.

I need that too! Especially when working remotely, I don't have the office to see my co-workers to socialize. Or back when I was in college, I don't have my classmates to chat about stuff. I wish "clubs" or communities in that sense were more common outside of college

It’s called a Starbucks.

> ..until I realized how annoying it is to have a café full of people working on their laptops

Again, some coffee shops just go for that market. They provide working spaces or floors etc. Their target is those customers who work there. This is not about your preference as a customer.

> How entitled can you be to think that you can occupy a table for the whole day and expect to only buy one coffee?

I'm not sure where this "whole day" come from. I never sit anywhere whole day, not in library, not in coffee shops. At most 2-3 hours at a coffee shop. Plus, I never said they need to provide me this kind of service. I have no demands. I clearly said, this kind of environment is not for me. I am not the target customer of those coffee shops, and I simply don't prefer them. I am listing the reasons why coffee shops does not work for me. Again, I am not telling I have those rights. I am exactly telling that not having the correct environment droves me away from coffee shops for work.

> Yes, that is exactly you are supposed to do. If you are working remotely and can´t afford a co-working space you are probably underpaid. Your salary should either include that expense or your employer should cover that for you.

Well, no? That's not what I am supposed to do. I am paid to work from home, not work from a co-working space. Spending my working hours outside of the home is my personal preference, not something that I need to get paid.

> How entitled can you be to think that you can occupy a table for the whole day and expect to only buy one coffee?

The author does not think that, hence the use of the phrase "pay a lot of money".

Nowhere did the author demand that coffee shops change to accommodate the author.

The author describes, accurately, why coffee shops are not conducive to working there all day. How is that "entitled"?