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Comment by _carbyau_ | Hacker News Reader

Thankfully.

Can you imagine a modern for-profit library?

Pay fees for access. Pay more fees to "skip the queue" for reserving books. Enjoy ads on your mandatory library app AND in your paid-for library space.

Yeeesh. No thanks. A modern public library is a simple reminder that we CAN have good things.

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And they'll sell your reading habit information. And since it'd be commercial the "pen register" jurisprudence applies meaning that the government can use it to put you on a list. This last point is prevented for public libraries because being part of the government they're bound from gathering that kind of information under the first amendment.

In asian countries there are plenty of comic cafes (manga/manhwa/manhua) that charge entry fees and provide amenities to read them.

Blockbuster and other video rental places were basically pay-per-use libraries, but not with an area to consume the media.

These exist -- see the Mechanics Library in San Francisco. I haven't been there in a while, but it's not as bleak as you suggest. It isn't so different from many public libraries, except less busy and quieter.

I think many private libraries like Mechanics are nonprofits and aren't primarily funded by membership dues, so have little incentive to engage in dark patterns like this

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanics%27_Institute,_San_...

It wouldn't be hard to imagine paying a not for profit institution directly instead of via taxes. Then its funding would be unaffected by political vagaries, as it would be funded by people's choice.

Because libraries are often used by the people who can least afford it. They offer resume classes, ESL, computer literacy, some will even have collections of clothes that can be borrowed for job interviews. Libraries should be a public service, not a private institution.

I understand what libraries do, but one doesn't preclude the other. Not for profits and charities are basically a one-way funnel of money from people who have it to people who don't, modulo not for profit salaries.

It sounds dismal. In an economic downturn the funding would dry up when people need it most.

I don't see people cancelling their Netflix subscriptions in a downturn; quite the opposite. Libraries could give very good value for money.

I was referring to large grants from wealthy donors, which is how nonprofits operate. To be entirely revenue funded a library would have to charge gym membership prices. I don’t see people going for it.

Netflix was still pretty niche in 2009. You’ve got a lot of poor friends? Who were movie buffs?

My comment wasn't particularly limited to 2009.

Legal, reader-friendly digital public libraries are likely to remain very difficult (if not impossible) to create without copyright reform, such as first-sale doctrine for ebooks.

So, like, Kindle?

No, Kindle with Special Offers (aka mandatory ads).

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