That would preclude the significant majority of use of public libraries; a $200 deposit is absolutely crippling to someone living in poverty, and unattainable for almost all children and students.
It's a lot of families.
To get a sense of how many, 40% of Americans surveyed say that they would have trouble paying an unexpected $400 expense. That they'd have to sell something or neglect other bills, or it would otherwise be a challenge, or impossible.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/20/heres-why-so-many-americans-...
But meanwhile... why? Wny not just... eliminate late fees instead? As several cities have already done, without disaster?
Are there any downsides that any library which has done this has experienced?
A poor person needing a nail gun and air compressor to fix up their shack should just be able to get that from the library, and not have to pay some capitalistic swine like Home Depot or whoever.
No late fees ... return it next week, next month, whenever y'know?
In practice, there’s more hurdles for tools, since they have more risk of harming the user, but they seem like they’re possible to overcome.
Oh look, we aren’t the first ones to have this idea: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tool_library “ Given their increasing popularity and proven history of success, tool libraries and tool banks are now playing a role in the sharing economy and can be found in local public libraries and makerspaces, for instance. There are software platforms for managing tool and other types of lending libraries”
Libraries are a public good. If someone gets a few dollars extra value out of it "unfairly" no harm is really done. Unless one likes to kick down...
You come off as very sheltered and privileged in these comments. Have some empathy for others.