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by philipwhiuk 271 days ago
Libraries aren't free co-working spaces though.

This remote worker is fortunate that no-one else does this because it would rapidly worsen. And I'm sure there's more than a handful of remote workers in their area so it would quickly descend into slots and worsen the 'regular purpose' of the library.
3 comments
siberpunk 271 days ago
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/

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cyphar 271 days ago
Most libraries in most countries I've been to have community spaces intended for (among other things) study and work. Most have dozens of services completely unrelated to loaning out books.
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siberpunk 271 days ago
Yes, another user in the comments mentioned that their library offers streaming services, rental video games and cheap/free snacks. Right when I was thinking I am lucky with mine :)
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cyphar 271 days ago
Oh man, I would've killed for snacks as a student...
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_kb 271 days ago
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.

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lapcat 271 days ago
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.

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