Is this a library?

A friend posted a picture similar to this one to Facebook this morning. I quipped 'This is not a library - unless an aspirin in a tin is a hospital'. In doing so I ignited a debate that took up the attention of lots of people who should really have been getting on with their work rather than checking their social media accounts. (I'm OK. I'm still officially on holiday!)

Those who believe that this is a library argued that you can borrow books from the box, then return them, at no cost.

Those who believe that it is not a library argued that it is, instead, a small free collection of random books that people can remove with no requirement or agreement to bring them back. My friend Phil added the following to the debate:

Can I get advice from a little free library? No.
Can I access the computers at a little free library? No.
Can I order a book that I need from a little free library? No.
Can I read the newspapers or magazines at a little free library? No.
Can I borrow DVDs or music from a little free library? No.
Can I work in peace and quiet because I have nowhere else to go at a little free library? No.
Can I use some free databases at a little free library? No.
Can an information professional locate exactly the information that I need at a little free library? No.
Can I use a photocopier at a little free library? No.
Can I use the facilities of the little free library to hold a meeting? No.
Can I bring my child to a rhyme time at a little free library? No.
Can I learn about local history at a little free library? No.
Can I use the little free library as a hub for my local community? No.
Can I get some scrappy old Mills and Boon that no-one else wants? Yes of course you can, this is a library!

The main point that I wanted to convey was that libraries are services, and not collections of objects (to be loaned or not. In fact lending is not a function of many great libraries, such as the national libraries in the UK). This remark prompted a question as to whether the police should be notified over the misuse of the term 'library' in the neighbourhood. My reply was as follows:

I agree that this would not interest the police, trading standards (or the multitude of traffic wardens who patrol Scotland Street!) but for those who value libraries for their full range of functions - and especially *public* libraries and the wide social benefit that they provide that goes *way* beyond serving as a place to share books - it's irritating to see this kind of thing pop up with the 'library' label.

(There are also political issues here related to the conception of public services across demographic groups and decisions on public funding, but this is not the place to go into all that...)

Happily, however, this thread has provided me with inspiration for my Blipfoto journal entry for today, so I am going to step out of my front door, cross two roads, and photograph this for myself, then take my ranting elsewhere :-)

So here it is Blipfriends: is this a library?

The rest of my day has been concerned with finishing the document that I started yesterday, then working on the first of the two presentations that I am delivering in Canada next week.

Exercise today: sit-ups, weights, and stretches and a short walk to photograph this box of books (which, by the way, now contains two donations from me).