[jakarta]

I think libraries are actually migrating towards the trend of being social study spots. At my old school, UT Austin, one library was actually converted to be an "academic center" which really meant a building with tables, couches, and desks for students to work at. Another library had certain floors where you were able to talk. I enjoyed these places.

I like coffee shops too, but I feel pretty bad about taking up tables and not buying coffee. So on days when I feel cheap, I'll just go to the library. On days when I feel like spending money I'll go to a coffee shop and buy a few cups (or one cup and put some money in the tip jar).

Funnily enough, I also enjoy the atmosphere/noise of a coffeeshop. I even once went looking to see if there were CDs or streams of coffee shop noise in order to try to emulate that effect without actually being in one. Unfortunately my search yielded no results!

[fmora]

I hope you are right. If libraries make this transition then they will get more customers and maybe even make some money to pay for expenses. I've also tried to replicate the atmosphere. Unfortunately, it seems that key ingredient is people. Which means that it cannot be reproduced on a cd. I find that if I'm not around people for a long period of time it starts to become difficult for me to work. I don't need to talk to them. I just need to have their positive auras around me, and I think this is in abundance in places like a coffee shop, were people go to relax and have a good time. Also the type of people that go there is really important. I see many people reading or working on their computers, and that is motivating.

[silentbicycle]

The economics of libraries are different than you seem to think. Most are publicly funded institutions, and the funding is typically based on day-to-day usage (circulation, the number of people visiting, internet sessions, etc.). Late fees are little more than an incentive to actually return things, and are inconsequential as actual income.

Also, the exact needs depend on the neighborhood, but libraries help with a lot of social issues. I spent a fair bit of time helping kids who spoke little English with their homework, digging up resources for dealing with bad landlords and other legal complications, assisting with resumes and unemployment paperwork, etc.

If it was just another Barnes and Noble, it'd be different, but libraries are supposed to be a public resource for finding information. Research librarians were the original search engines, you know. :)

(Academic, medical, etc. libraries serve different roles, of course. I'm just talking about public libraries.)

[fmora]

The problem is that many of these libraries are underfunded. Not enough new books are being added. All the books that I have needed over the last couple of years I can never find them in a library. I've pretty much stopped relying on libraries and just go straight to Amazon if I really need a book. The additional funding could be used to buy more books or provide more services. At least I hope.

With the rise of the internet you can get almost any information you need from your computer. I haven't had the need to go and do research in a library for a long time.

[silentbicycle]

> The problem is that many of these libraries are underfunded.

No kidding. People hate taxes, though.

Public libraries generally aren't going to be interested in stocking extremely niche-y technical books, anyway. (For that, try academic/research libraries.) Individual collections are stocked to meet the needs of the local patrons, and something that is 1) expensive, 2) only relevant for one person, and 3) likely to be obsolete in three years is not a high priority.

[PidGin128]

You might try http://www.freesound.org/searchText.php . I couldn't link my searches, but try 'cafe', 'lounge', 'coffeeshop', etc. Longest I saw was ~20 minutes, and was a lounge, so music, but more than nothing. And you can always record your own and share them!

Originally saw the site accredited in the movie 'children of men' [title possibly mangled].