• flandish@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Local community members through fair, equitable, democratic, and at-will membership in the community. Co-ops are not a new idea.

        • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          Co-ops are not a new idea.

          Co-ops denote shared ownership usually via a buy-in. Wouldn’t this replicate the existing Private Library concept?

          So no public libraries in your model or are you saying that a small portion of people would voluntarily pay for the library, but the entirety of the public would be able to use it?

          • flandish@lemmy.world
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            1 day ago

            The latter, yes. This happens here and there. Heck those “free little libraries” in front lawns count and are good for more than keeping drug drops dry.

            • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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              1 day ago

              Do you exclusively use the "free little libraries” in front lawns today for your library needs or do you also use the tax supported public libraries?

              • flandish@lemmy.world
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                1 day ago

                nope, I volunteer at my local library as well as pay taxes owed (in addition to other areas of my small city like the fire dept, town commissions, and other things). what are you trying for here?

                • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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                  1 day ago

                  If you work at your local library, you have to see how much it costs of acquisition of the collections as well as the facilities and staff that make these wonderful institutions possible. Public Library funding is frequently under attack and underfunded with many communities lack the services needed to serve the needs they have.

                  Do you honestly believe that in your preferred system of a small group of people voluntarily paying would be enough to replace the tax driven system we have today? Your suggestion about front lawn free libraries as a replacement suggests you may not have a full grasp on the expenses of a modern well run public library system.

                  • flandish@lemmy.world
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                    1 day ago

                    my suggestion is a cherry picked example of a cohort of things. my initial reply was absurd on purpose. yet you are replying like you’re arguing with bakunin.

      • flandish@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        That is correct. Why do folks here seem to want doctoral level dissertations in the replies.

        • jackalope@lemmy.ml
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          22 hours ago

          People aren’t friendly to anti tax rhetoric when it’s been used to undermine our current democracy.

          Is our current system good? No. But it’s getting overly theoretical to go off on taxes in this context.