Almost all the books I actually <i>want</i> to read are pretty niche (programming or Catholic), and because of that I can never find them in our local library system. Only Amazon or Archive.org end up having them.<p>(FWIW Archive.org + Lulu.com is a great way to get an out-of-print book into your hands for relatively cheap.)<p>So the way I see it, libraries are good for reading what people popularly read. They&#x27;re good for introducing our children to Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys, or Lord of the Rings, or Dr. Seuss, or Amelia Bedelia.