Librarians respond to suggestion Amazon should replace libraries

I didn't like the original Forbes article at all. Libraries have always been self sustaining, and are responsible for building communities.

I think it's the name that provokes responses. People have largely moved on from reading physical books as THE source of educating themselves. Sure, reading a book or a blog is not the same as reading a phy. Book. You may enjoy reading your novel as a paper book instead of electronic one, but that does not mean that governments should stack up old books and run a library for the civil benefit.

Now, IMHO, call it a "community center" that has a few desktop computers with fast internet, projectors setup for interesting media, workbenches where you can make stuff, draw stuff, open rooms which people can use for small discussions or even community based talks/sessions. Now that's more for the civil benefit, and makes for a better option than running a library in 2018.