Ask HN: Why do public libraries still have physical books?

Because reading a physical book is so much better than having to read it digitally. I find digital books convenient but the reading experience is bad even in the best of situations. Books with graphics get badly formatted by eReaders. Flipping thru pages is not possible. It's easier to remember what you read when it's physical. No special device is needed to read them. Also, no power needed. And on, on... I hope physical books never go away.

Because that's the point of a library. There doesn't need to be a large amount of physical locations if you want digital books. You can just have a single website that allows anyone to download any book. That kind of website will eventually surpass the utility of any library once everything eventually gets scanned.

There are many good reasons. The first thing that comes to mind is that books smell better than tablets. The second is that they don't need the publisher's permission to lend physical books; they do for digital ones.

Really, they have physical books today for all the reasons they had physical books yesterday or a hundred years ago.

Because all you need to extract the book's information is your own eyes and the ability to read.

A challenge I often give people: "Be honest now. If electricity was not available for six months, could you survive?" How would you? Most of us wouldn't, me included.

Using a Kindle isn't the same experience for small children as being able to pick up a book and either flip through it or have a parent read it to them.

What financial incentive do they have?