Public libraries are essentially the temples of knowledge, that is they are places where likeminded people congregate and perform rituals - reading books.

Good article, i'm very fond of the 3 library systems that i patronize (pac NW), they operate quite differently and have different collections.

My introduction to one was at a bluegrass festival where one library had a booth showing off Ableton and 3 tables of hard and soft synths, VST's, effect pedals. Incongruous and delightful at the same time.

In a parallel to the hagiographical narrative where St. Catherine of Alexandria's relics were carried by angels to Mt. Sinai after her martyrdom, the Greek Orthodox monastery which now stands at that site is worth mention:

The library, founded sometime between 548 and 565, is the oldest continuously operating library in the world.[25] The monastery library preserves the second largest collection of early codices and manuscripts in the world, outnumbered only by the Vatican Library.[26] It contains Greek, Christian Palestinian Aramaic, Syriac, Georgian, Arabic, Ethiopic/Ge‘ez, Latin, Armenian, Church Slavonic, and Caucasian Albanian[27] manuscripts and books, including very rare Hebrew[28] and Coptic books.[8] (Wikipedia)

Public libraries are awesome! I regularly borrow eBooks and Audiobooks, with the option of borrowing physical books. For people who read a lot of books this is much cheaper than buying a book that you might not like and never read again.