Quote:
Originally Posted by Keith P.
I have not set foot in a Halifax public library since the 1980s and in looking back on it the only time I really ever made use of it was when I was in elementary school. If you listened to the chat at the hearings on this project it became clear that there is only a small core group of people - I won't call them cheapskates, though that tag would fit - who use the library to obtain media on the cheap (for them, not the taxpayer). The role of library services has changed greatly since the days of the 1800s, yet we seem to have no problem with spending more and more on fringe activities for them. I question why that premise has not been challenged.
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That's fine for you, but 44 per cent of the HRM's population has an active library membership, and in-person visits were 2.2 million last year. The library provides not just books and other physical media (though it does provide that) but online research portals for academic and historical documents that most people would never have access to otherwise, archival information, community meeting spaces, etc, etc, etc.
Libraries aren't just big buildings full of books, and their value to a city goes well beyond what you're imagining.
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