Ten very unusual libraries.
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Please consider donating to Behind the Black, by giving either a one-time contribution or a regular subscription, as outlined in the tip jar to the right or below. Your support will allow me to continue covering science and culture as I have for the past twenty years, independent and free from any outside influence.
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The beach and bus libraries were my favorites: places where people are looking for something to read. There is a problematic side to those locations: some government official sees this private effort, thinks it’s cool (it is), and decides to allocate public funds so every beach or bus has a library. Pretty soon, what was a fun private affair turns into a Government Program. A short step from that to what was nice-to-have turning into have-to-have. A little later, mini-libraries become a Right. You can see where this ends up.
As for ‘shrinkage’, I think most people’s sense of propriety would lead them to return the books.
I liked the beach, and especially the mule!
As for “shrinkage”, our local public library has an entire section of books with no checkout required. I return the freely-loaned books for the same reason I return the rest – to clear them out of my house so I’m not buried :)