Nowadays, many do have online offers where you can "borrow" e-books.
Of course, any library's catalogue is probably smaller than Amazons, but they usually are quite up-to-date with mainstream stuff and have more than you could ever hope to read in any case.
Plus you get to have a warm fuzzy feeling for supporting an institution that is really good for your local community :)
They wrote a book, I'm happy to pay for it in some manner and Kindle Unlimited honestly seems like the fairest possible solution, I as a reader aren't required to buy in advance, I can try it to see if I enjoy it and if I do the author gets paid per page read.
And the inventory isn't censored either. I started a reread of Gravity's Rainbow and that came from Carrolton (college town). Certain gory/raunchy murder mystery series come from the oddest places. Series like Game of Thrones. And highbrow academic stuff like Anne Hollander.
Reminds me I got to log on and extend a couple of titles.
But yeah, we still buy dead tree books, occasionally, from Amazon, but only if we want to keep them. It turns out PINES is great for that, too. Just put it on hold, review it in person, and if it's actually good, buy it.