Sure because most community public libraries have those just laying around for any member of the public to read whenever they want.

This is such a straw man. Unless you have an actual academic need for an actual Shakespeare first folio, you can read that text without needing an original printing. If you have such a need, the Palo Alto Public Library isn’t likely to have a it there for the asking.

Academic libraries at universities have their purpose, but your local public library isn’t going to typically be used by Shakespeare scholars.

Reading restricted collection books is a pretty low percentage of why people visit libraries. Reading ultra rare, priceless books is almost non-existent as a percentage of library visits.

Comparing a city library with an extremely specialized institution which holds a Gutenberg bible or a Shakespeare first folio is ridiculous. These are separate institutions which only share the name library.

Yeah that's kind of the problem with this entire discussion. People are discussing entirely different sorts of libraries.

Well, no. People are trying to draw a functional distinction between two types of libraries that isn't really there.

First, old-fashioned academic libraries existed; later, public lending libraries existed, but only because various people noticed that the existence of academic libraries was a good thing thing that should be more widely accessible to people outside academia and/or religious institutions. At no point has the purpose of public lending libraries been to provide the community centre and entertainment resource that some people want them to be.

   At no point has the purpose of public lending libraries been to provide the community centre

I'm in my 40s and here in the United States, in my lifetime libraries have always doubled as community spaces: hosting events like readings, book clubs, art classes, and so on.

Of course, they have not traditionally been free-use community spaces in the sense of "hey, come to the library and drop your kids off so they can run around and play" or anything like that. But I don't think anybody's asking for that, either.

Judging by your spelling of "centre," perhaps you're not in the U.S. and therefore have a different experience and perspective.

Except for now.

Not exactly popping over to leaf through those with my kids, tbh.

Then take it to the quiet study rooms that my comment you are replying to suggests we fix! ;)