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> finding a library that's somehow still funded

Libraries just got an increase in funding in the US in the 2026 appropriations bills.

> Maybe YouTube or listening to music aren't strictly essentials but they also don't seem like absurd luxuries that we should be arbitrarily denying to people in 2026

No-one's arbitrarily denying things. It's about what should and shouldn't be given as free things that other people work to pay for.

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Libraries haven't gotten much since 2009 except for huge costs for digital licensing.

Ebook publishers are scamming the libraries. I shit you not, but over something like 4 years an ebook can be 10x the cost.

It's just such a crazy idea to lend ebooks.

"It's UNFAIR!" is the anthem of whiny children. If these people would benefit from access to Youtube, and we can provide it to them trivially, then by all means, let them have it. If it upsets you when people are given things for free, that's really a "you problem."

They genuinely benefit from YouTube. I saw one guy watching a video on how to use a debit card since he'd never even held one before. They use them to figure out how to fill out paperwork at the SSA and state agencies etc.

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