“Denver police bring new focus to downtown library amid spike in drug use, illegal activity”

Link to Denver Post
Link to Denver Library discussion on same issue

I can’t imagine normal people wanting to visit or bring their kids to the library, or what it would be like to sit in the newspaper and magazine reading area.

I wonder if the problem was this bad before the fine citizens voted to legalize marijuana.

The problem is probably not unique to Denver.

This is exactly what became of the downtown library in San Diego.

Here too. I can't see much of a practical function of a public library with physical books when pretty much any fact from the entirety of human history can be accessed from your phone. If you can't Google it, it probably isn't in the local stacks either.

Denver has become the asshole of Colorado. Thanks to the "refugees" from other locales when the shit they created became too much for them to handle drove them out. They came to Denver and turned it to the same shit hole they left.

Kind of like N. Virginia today with those who fled where they were, came here and proceeded to recreate what they left behind.

Sadly, a lot of them seem to be moving into N. Idaho now as well.

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
Here too. I can't see much of a practical function of a public library with physical books when pretty much any fact from the entirety of human history can be accessed from your phone. If you can't Google it, it probably isn't in the local stacks either.

Well, not entirely.

I wanted to read Harry Truman's memoirs, now out of print. Amazon would sell a set for something like $750. The local library could get them on loan from two other libraries nearby. I did that.

I wanted to read The Complete Story of Civilization, 11 volumes, ~12,000 pages. Amazon's dead tree version is $350. The Kindle version is $100. I could have gotten a volume or two at a time through the library, but thought it would be nice to have them on my Kindle. All 11 volumes come in one huge file, making searching tedious to impossible, and there are so many typos, from a poor OOR scan that I panned the review. They could have done it right. I wish I had gone the library route and used the $100 to buy Russian ties!

The Denver library was like that 15 years ago. If you want to see a contrast, look at the Douglas County library system (Highlands Ranch, Castle Rock and south metro area). Great system, online lending (ebooks, audiobooks), they bring in authors as speakers, great childrens' resources and programs, and they lend movies. It's one of the bigger losses I feel having moved away.

Anchorage has a library that has won architecture awards, but it also has a huge year around homeless problem. The library was the same as the OP described especially in the winter.

It costs millions of dollars a year in salaries and utilities to operate what has essentially become an excessively nice homeless day lounge.

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
Here too. I can't see much of a practical function of a public library with physical books when pretty much any fact from the entirety of human history can be accessed from your phone. If you can't Google it, it probably isn't in the local stacks either.

The library is a nice, quiet place to go and read.

Same story at the Detroit Public Library in Midtown.

Trying to read a book on a phone?

Having a hard copy of many manuals is a plus. In addition most libraries today also have function rooms and is a source of internet access for some. Homeless probably are part of that group. I'm not about to condemn everyone who is homeless as a threat and a loser.

One of the best expenditures my former town ever made was the library which serves as a source of a community center and has the ability to host many functions and training sessions for various groups.

quote:

Originally posted by IntrepidTraveler:
The Denver library was like that 15 years ago. If you want to see a contrast, look at the Douglas County library system (Highlands Ranch, Castle Rock and south metro area). Great system, online lending (ebooks, audiobooks), they bring in authors as speakers, great childrens' resources and programs, and they lend movies. It's one of the bigger losses I feel having moved away.

Wait. Legalizing pot didn't lead to rampant needle drug use and homelessness? Are you sure? I've heard first time you take a hit of pot, your instantly hooked on heroin and start selling your possessions to feed your habit?

quote:

I wonder if the problem was this bad before the fine citizens voted to legalize marijuana.

You can't be serious, are you?

Say what you want, Denver/Colorado has a very high transient problem,homelessness has increased. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/le...omeless-to-colorado/ .... http://dailycaller.com/2017/05...to-panhandler-haven/

Similar to all the Rich Seattleites getting mad when the homeless figured out it was legal to camp parks, and eventually they found Richy-Rich's park and camped there. Trashing the places, of course.

Talk about karma.

quote:

Originally posted by valkyrie1:
Say what you want, Denver/Colorado has a very high transient problem,homelessness has increased. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/le...omeless-to-colorado/ .... http://dailycaller.com/2017/05...to-panhandler-haven/

That's what you call a self inflicted GSW.

You mean all the potheads go where all the legal pot is? Shocker, eh?

Zero fucks given.

That's all good and well but doesn't do any good to the ones that didn't vote for it. I have a couple years to work before I can retire. Then I'm outta here.

quote:

Originally posted by IntrepidTraveler:
The Denver library was like that 15 years ago. If you want to see a contrast, look at the Douglas County library system (Highlands Ranch, Castle Rock and south metro area). Great system, online lending (ebooks, audiobooks), they bring in authors as speakers, great childrens' resources and programs, and they lend movies. It's one of the bigger losses I feel having moved away.

Been like it for over 30 years! The Arapahoe Library District is the same as those mentioned. Wonderful locations, I go to Koelbel-a great respite from the noise and hectic pace of life.

There are similar problems in the law library across the street in the AG's building, security there finds the transients having sex and doing drugs constantly. The library in the building is open to the public.

quote:

Originally posted by ulsterman:

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
Here too. I can't see much of a practical function of a public library with physical books when pretty much any fact from the entirety of human history can be accessed from your phone. If you can't Google it, it probably isn't in the local stacks either.

The library is a nice, quiet place to go and read.

Try reading children's books to your kids on your phone. Children's books can bankrupt you. Much better to have a good library to borrow from, sort the good from the bad, and only buy the very favorites (think grandchildren).

Try finding books from, say, the Naval Institute Press free online. I'll wait. They're far from the only publisher of specialized content, just one I've been reading the odd book from lately courtesy of my local library system.

The various free online content is very nice, and efforts like wikis (and of course the 'pedia) can be helpful for a very basic grounding in many subjects. But those sources also have severe limitations, both in depth and in trustworthiness.

A good library is a valuable resource to a community, useful to members of all ages. What they've allowed their library to become..... shameful.

The main library in downtown Winston-Salem has been that way for the last 10-15 years. It became a cesspool and smelled like it. So their remedy was to tear down the old building and spend millions of dollars to build a new one.

How long do you think it will take before the new one looks and smells like the old one?

South Bend Indiana, same deal. You can't use the library in the evenings. When the library closes they head for their tent cities and abandoned buildings. No solutions forth coming. Our libtard mayor is building them tiny houses.....You have got to be kidding me.

Big downtown libraries in large metropolis areas often have similar problems.