<story><title>Too Poor to Afford the Internet</title><url>http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/12/opinion/too-poor-to-afford-the-internet.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>jawns</author><text>Can I just say how much I love the way public libraries have navigated themselves into the digital age?&lt;p&gt;They are, as this piece points out, very popular places to access computers and the Internet, and many libraries offer a wealth of digital content.  I can check out and instantly download e-books and audiobooks and movies from my library.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s certainly conceivable that they might have transitioned less well.  There is, after all, a healthy amount of government bureaucracy in the public library system, and that tends to stymie innovation.  And then there&amp;#x27;s just the pain of transition.  Bookstores have felt those pains hard; it&amp;#x27;s not that people don&amp;#x27;t want content, but they want content in different forms, and a lot of bookstores just couldn&amp;#x27;t move fast enough.&lt;p&gt;But I&amp;#x27;m really glad to see libraries continue to be generally healthy, and important community resources.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>hiharryhere</author><text>Replying from the NY Public Library in Nolita. Couldn&amp;#x27;t agree more, the crowd here is a real melting pot. Students, kids, old folk, rich, poor.&lt;p&gt;I also like the opportunity to get on with work in a quiet place without feeling obliged to buy a coffee.</text></comment>
<story><title>Too Poor to Afford the Internet</title><url>http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/12/opinion/too-poor-to-afford-the-internet.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>jawns</author><text>Can I just say how much I love the way public libraries have navigated themselves into the digital age?&lt;p&gt;They are, as this piece points out, very popular places to access computers and the Internet, and many libraries offer a wealth of digital content.  I can check out and instantly download e-books and audiobooks and movies from my library.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s certainly conceivable that they might have transitioned less well.  There is, after all, a healthy amount of government bureaucracy in the public library system, and that tends to stymie innovation.  And then there&amp;#x27;s just the pain of transition.  Bookstores have felt those pains hard; it&amp;#x27;s not that people don&amp;#x27;t want content, but they want content in different forms, and a lot of bookstores just couldn&amp;#x27;t move fast enough.&lt;p&gt;But I&amp;#x27;m really glad to see libraries continue to be generally healthy, and important community resources.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>chatmasta</author><text>Public libraries are amazingly accessible, but university libraries remain complicit in the ongoing racket of pay-to-read academic literature. Although many university libraries allow guest access during the day, you cannot access their academic subscriptions unless you&amp;#x27;re on the secure wifi.</text></comment>