Libraries.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260618-the-weird-and-wonderful-libraries-of-finland

I had that link sent to  me earlier. It seems that NZ and Finland have about the same number of public libraries. I think of libraries as a real asset to a community. I use them a lot.

Are any of you regular users of libraries?

Certainly am in Japan here with young kids. 

My own reading has dropped off. Haven’t read a new book in the last year tbh. Read a weekly paper and online news.

Where in Japan are you?

I wasn't for the longest time. But have recently got into visiting them. They've changed to be so much more than books ay. One near me has a recording studio, 3d printers and a whole textiles space. It's blooding amazing 

Kanagawa, south of Tokyo. 

There’s a real variety in libraries. You can tell who put their 80s dosh into books or in the case that directly affects me, foreign language books. 

It’s also interesting- you seem to be able to join a lot of libraries not in your local town. One thing that is quite cool about Japan is the local community involvement with things. 

I know you can borrow e-books in many NZ libraries for example. But I don’t know what else you can do online here, apart from renew books, cos it serves people with local literacy. 

There’s this whole culture of sitting in a library or a cafe or family restaurant all day to study. There’s often rows of desks and queues for them at opening time. Some libraries are quite spartan, and only a few have big comfy arm chairs or sitting spaces I’ve seen in NZ. 

To be honest, the analog in Japan was part of its charm. Self checkouts at my local supermarket have arrived since I got here. The libraries have old guys dressed up in good clothes, checking out newspapers to read in house, and many things that are receding quickly in New Zealand. Are there any broadsheets left? 

Even since I’ve been here, too, the last Tsutaya’s have mostly rolled up. These were huge! Movie rentals, but also music rentals and you’d rent CDs and make mix tapes. Massive end of a cultural era. 

Libraries are usually concrete floors, rather than carpet. Occasionally they or museums are in a private, more modern building and then they’re a little more comfortable. 

But often the vibe can be exam hall with bookshelves for many parts.

There will be a little kids section. It’s often an elevated no shoes section with a wood floor or carpet. As well as books they also have big story cards to tell to kids. I think these used to be told in public for donations 80-100+ years ago and then an influx of newsprint lead to them becoming manga. But kindergartens and libraries still use the numbered cards in a frame these days. Story on the back, pictures on the front.

I’ve bought a bunch of books through the second hand stores, but mostly Grisham’s and easy reads and relatives sent me heavy worthy stuff, but I’ve hardly read any of them. Booklets of local birds, local histories…I think that was the last thing I made an effort to read was something about a local samurai family.

I find online really annoying as a library or an archive, particularly for movies. I wanted to show my kids some old musicals and they were really hard to get hold of. I think that should be alarming to anyone interested in the accessibility of our culture. And occasionally I use the internet archive, but they’re thinking of preservation, not necessarily an HD copy or ease of watching. Kind of like the period of the destruction of Greek and Roman libraries in medieval times, it feels like many things will be destroyed through neglect or ideology.

Preventing access online to things feels too easily done.

I guess as well most households here would have a version of a Switch. Study is highly valued and will be forever. There is a strong bookshop and library sector, but how valued personal reading is compared to games/phones/tablets as a hobby I’m not sure. Then there’s manga, which is popular but also looked down on, which perhaps doesn’t help. Perhaps reading is a class distinction even, when it wasn’t so much in either country, not so long ago.

Edit: and here’s me using the forum and avoiding reading on a wet Sunday morning. 😄

I think as well in Japan there are quite a few community spaces beyond libraries that have the kind of things Kwlap is referring to where community programs, small business assistance, help for people with disabilities and all other kinds of programs and community groups operate. Some things are run by private groups too, with grants if they’re a public good. There’s a crazy fun place where kids can go and try out jobs at various companies, which is obviously sponsored by those companies. And companies or new developments often put in gallery space or museum space as part of their offering. 

In NZ the libraries seem to pick up a lot of the slack for all kinds of needs.

Is the toy library still going? Remember using that a few times. 

I’m based in Christchurch and our library system here is incredible. The new library in the CBD - Turanga - is world class. It’s almost a tourist destination in its own right.

I’ve always been a reader and aim for 25+ books per year with a few extra audiobooks thrown in. Side note, I do a fair bit of driving for my job and the Libby app is great. You use it to access audiobooks from your local library. For some reason there’s still a wait list for popular audiobooks, despite them being a digital file. I’ll never understand that.

I do worry for the day that libraries come under the microscope for budget cuts. They offer an enormous amount of value to communities, but it’s a hard to measure value. I’m in my 30’s and so few my age read that it only feels a matter of time before people who don’t understand them decide they are not worth funding.

I digress. To answer the question, libraries are great.

I think the audiobooks/digital copies is something to do with how they license digital copies from the publishers. 

Libraries are an overwhelming public good, so they always come under attack for funding. 

Libraries are an essential part of our way of life. Whether for entertainment or for education. 

The first time I was in Japan, 1993, my friend who lived on her family's rice farm out in Ibaraki took me to a library in Tsukuba. It was vast and she had used it as a gateway for fashion and music. The library had all the 'cool' magazines of that time. Both Japanese and Western. The consequence was all the local hipsters gathered there to unlock all the secrets of the big city scenes. It was a blast!


That library was probably developed on 80s money. 

👍🏼😉👍🏼

Awesome. Still not come to terms with the end of the 80s!

When the money was flowing there was a grant to build tourist attractions. Two neighboring places built long slides in an attempt to get to a record. One place built a replica of Shakespeare’s house in Stratford. Another, perhaps non-funded thing I came across was a truck/service stop completely designed with artwork and attractions around the original illustrations from the Little Prince! 

I know they’ve got a Space Museum in Tsukuba I believe. I’ll have to find out if the library still exists or what has become of it. Heritage is never the last 40 years you know? Only much older.

I’m a constant user of libraries.
I take out books in all the ways possible
I visit irregularly and pick up a few new books from the display, as well as browse what is in the trolleys to go back on shelves.
Order books on-line, to be picked up at local library
Get e-books on Libby
Get audio books on Libby.
Take grandchildren in to pick their own books
Long live this great resource