“The idea of a public library — where anyone in the community is trusted to borrow books, often for long stretches of time, for free, ad infinitum — is fairly magical. Where else do you get something for nothing? Which is not even to mention the many programs, study space, use of computers, and other perks that most public libraries offer. Basically, what I’m saying is: libraries should be even more popular than they are — but some of them are pretty popular already.”