I found this on The Perpetual Page Turner:

 

I posted this, about a similar topic a while back, but since i love my library, I'm always happy to blog about it again.

 

The main reason I love libraries, and the one in my little town, more than most, is that you can borrow e-books. This library, in a tiny town, that many people would see as a village, has the highest number of titles I know of. Stockholm and the other major cities may have more, but for a small town, I think this is exceptional. Where I lived before, they had far less, and I had even taken the precaution of getting a library card in a nearby town, just so I can borrow more books and have access to more titles. Neither of these bigger towns had nearly as many titles.

 

In general, though, I love the idea of being allowed to borrow books for free, regardless of format. There are other forms of media that you can borrow too, but I have to admit that I've never done that. Also, you can use the internet for free and take copies from reference books for a very fair price.

 

One thing I really enjoy is just being allowed to sit there, reading a book that I don't even need to borrow, I can just pick it up and read it and relax. Libraries are usually quiet. In this small town, there isn't all that much culture available, so having a library and especially one that really works so hard to provide different aspects of culture is wonderful. They offer courses in genealogy, book groups etc.

 

Since I've only lived here since November I'm not completely sure if they offer the same services as the ones I'm used from before, but at least in many libraries, they offer free coffee and a book tip (mostly for retired people, but there's no rule that says you have to be over 65, anyone is welcome).

 

Some libraries at least have 'language cafes' that help newly arrived refugees the chance to practice their Swedish.

 

Many libraries offer a series of talks on various subjects, usually historic ones. In the past I've enjoyed those a lot.

 

Something that's very typical for Sweden, I believe, is that we have several different societies that offer education for anyone. They often cooperate with the library not only in offering courses on various topics, but also talks like the ones I mention above.

 

Sometimes there are photo exhibitions and that sort of thing in the library too. There's probably even more, but this is what I was able to think about right now.

Source: http://crimsoncorundum.dreamwidth.org/162573.html