Nabil-Fareed AlikhanJan 5, 2023

I see more and more paywalls on websites. Fed up with this, I have restarted getting in touch with my local library. They've definitely improved over the last few years. Theres the standard physical services we know and love but also access to a multitude of ebooks, audiobooks, online periodicals.

E.g. my library account gives me free access to pressreader, a catalogue of 6000 publications from around the world. And I'm happily reading "science illustrated" with no ads, no fuss.

MadRobinsJan 25, 2023
Show threadNabil-Fareed Alikhan
"Libraries aren't just a place to obtain books for free. They're one of the few public spaces left in our society where you're allowed to exist without the expectation of spending money."
Jan 5, 2023 at 4:06pmWeb
Show threadJonas Jan 5, 2023
@happykhan
You've already payed for it
Show threadMorganJan 6, 2023
@jonas @happykhan what, in taxes? I'd much rather that go towards public spaces than bombing the Middle East.
especially because there are people who don't pay taxes and the library is just as much for the unemployed, homeless, and poor as it is for those who have a ton of taxes to pay
Show threadEric HickmanJan 24, 2023
@jonas @happykhan Valid point. No government service is free. A dollar well spent in my view, I probably like having public libraries around I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a private library.
Show threadRhinos Worry Me has movedJan 6, 2023

@happykhan

"The medicine chest of the soul"
- inscription above the entrance to the Library of Thebes

Show threadSteve WilliamsJan 6, 2023

@happykhan Capitalists & city planners quake in fear about places where you can't spend money, as they think they inevitably descend into a wasteland of crime and squalor.

I'd rather be feeding my brain, than draining my bank account - every time.

Show threadJulian ElveJan 6, 2023
@happykhan and these days, often a place to keep warm for free too https://londonist.com/london/features/warm-banks-spaces-places-havens-london-councils
Warm Banks In London: Where To Find One And How To Use Them This Winter

Warm spaces open to the public across the capital.

Londonist
Show threadMsMeropeJan 6, 2023
@happykhan lol... our libraries have books you have to rent, and charge various fees for other things. Maybe that's changed... I haven't used a public library in decades.
Show threadMorganJan 6, 2023
@MsMerope @happykhan at most libraries you *can* spend money somehow, but at none are you *expected to* just because you're there (and if you are, it shouldn't be called a library imo). You're expected to pay money if you don't follow the rules, or if you rent books like you said, or if you buy anything... but you're not expected to do any of those things. You can just sit in a library and read the free books or use the free computers if they have them. Or just hang out.
Show threadIrinaJul 24, 2023
@MsMerope @happykhan In the Netherlands, too. The adult fee in our local library is 5 euros a month (used to be more but I think it was driving people away) with adjustments for people who really can't afford it. (I don't have a library card any more because of policy changes ~20 years ago, and I'm wondering whether I want to come back but I'm not looking forward to carrying a library card with my legal name on it)
Show threadTofu GolemJan 6, 2023
@happykhan
If your civilization is starting to remind people of the Ferengi from Star Trek, it is time to pause and reflect.
Show threadTom HolubJan 6, 2023
@happykhan Libraries are critical resources in poor communities. Some of the most important institutions along with faith-based orgs and schools.
Show threadScott Williams 🐧Jan 6, 2023

@happykhan The #library in my hometown in #Indiana is famous and was architected by I. M. Pei.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleo_Rogers_Memorial_Library

Cleo Rogers Memorial Library - Wikipedia

Show threadMorganJan 6, 2023
@happykhan the coolest thing my sister ever did was when she was like 10 or 11 and our town was trying to get rid of the library to save money or some shit and we went to the city council meeting and she gave testimonial, like a whole ass speech, with the line "what's a city without a library?" and so the town decided against cutting the library and the library started using that (modified slightly) as a slogan
Show threadSally StrangeJan 24, 2023
@raphaelmorgan @happykhan Wow what a hero!
Show threadjack the nonabrasiveJan 24, 2023
@raphaelmorgan @happykhan Please tell me when I can vote for her for President.
Show threadRichardOntarioJan 6, 2023
@happykhan As long as you keep your mouth shut
Show threadLynn McAlister UE  Jan 6, 2023
@happykhan Yes! Which is why people like the Kochs in the US (or whichever one is left) and the Tories in Britain are morally opposed to the whole concept and have tried their best to close them, privatize them, or turn then over to "volunteers". #Libraries #Community
Show threadmalenaJan 7, 2023
@happykhan imagine if we proposed the concept of libraries under todays political circumstances “ha ha no no we will not be granting you publicly funded temples of INFORMATION that exist entirely outside of corporate capitalism ha ha hahgahHAHAHAAAA”
Show threadSoozcatJan 7, 2023
@happykhan Other than libraries, is there a list of public places (at least in North America) that are not making an active effort to extract as much money from people as possible? Public parks come to mind, but what else?
Show threadJackJan 7, 2023
@happykhan I think about this all the time, especially living in the subarctic. The lack of indoor public space is mind-boggling.
Show threadL4URENJan 25, 2023
@happykhan I am reading this while I sit at a lovely little library nearby my son’s hockey practice. Just popped in and hopped on the WiFi and having myself a nice quiet time. (Sending Toots instead of work emails…)
Show threadgmokeJan 25, 2023
@happykhan
Every day is Christmas at the library
Show threadMasto.poetryJan 25, 2023
@happykhan
thopiugh there is often a nominal fee (i have been too broke to pay the fee at times) but state and national and local parks are also such spaces
Show threadMasto.poetryJan 25, 2023

@happykhan

also, as a teen, we spent many hours wondering malls without going in the shops, but we were white kids, not sure Black and Brown kids (or even older folks) could do that without serious harassment. Libraries, Parks and Post Offices are three of the great social gifts to ourselves.

Show threadRyan RogersSep 13, 2025
@happykhan hello 👋