Book News of the Day – Economist Argues that Libraries Should be Replaced by Amazon Bookshops. Librarians Respond Accordingly.
This is nuts. A professor of economics just wrote a Forbes article outlining his idea that libraries “don’t have the same value they used to” and should be replaced permanently by Amazon book shops. And he apparently wasn't joking. “At the core, Amazon has provided something better than a local library without the tax fees. This is why Amazon should replace local libraries,” the writer stated. “The move would save taxpayers money and enhance the stockholder value of Amazon all in one fell swoop.” This is obviously insane, as the value of libraries lies in much more than profits (access to services, shelter, meeting space, etc.) and even so, just as an example, for every tax dollar spent on public libraries in Texas, $4.64 is returned to the economy. As you can imagine, librarians and the general public across the nation have responded with outrage, and some great tweets. You can read more about the response here:
Mental! Yeah, and let's also close all cinemas and replace them by Netflix! Let's see how it goes...