Philadelphia libraries close. I just finished reading the book Free which I borrowed from the library. Borrowing the book seemed free to me, but it is paid for by taxes, corporate donations,fines, fees[if you borrow a DVD, it's $2], and the fact that the library serves as a book recycling center- give them your old books, and they will sell them to others for prices from 25 cents to maybe a dollar.

The library returns a lot of value to the community- people can access the internet, do research for school or pleasure, children can gain reading skills through storytime and the fact they can have as many books as they can carry for 3 weeks, and there are also small business talks given as well, and tax help for the elderly.