The local library is closed, of course. They thoughtfully left the wifi on since that’s the only way some people can connect, so there’s usually somebody parked in the lot with a laptop or whatever.
And here’s a touch I initially viewed rather cynically – they taped a plastic box on top of the book depository for people who wanted to exchange books, seeding it with some donations. “That’ll be empty next time,” I thought.
But no, it’s always full. It rarely contains anything you’d want to take home and read, but it’s always full. And D&L gamely do their part to join in.
My local library also left the wi-fi on. Darn thoughtful of ’em.
The plastic box is a nice idea. We have about 20 Little Libraries scattered around the nearby Big Town; they are almost always filled with religious tracts or porno or literal trash. Sigh.
It’s actually a thing. I’ve seen a few of these. Like you said they don’t have best sellers but you can often find something worthwhile. Does that mean thieves don’t like to read? I don’t know.
https://littlefreelibrary.org/
RE: the “Little Library” thing; someone where I used to live once suggested repurposing old phone booths for that – put some shelves in, the glass sides and door would keep rain out, etc. Somehow, it came to the attention of the SJWs who run the government library and it, quite predictably, was murdered in its crib.
With the local library closed, it turns out that I’m the little library for my 2 best friends. I switched over to reading kindle books on the computer, but I had acquired at least 50 paperback mystery/crime/detective books for my EOTW/SHTF reading stash. Lucky for them, my 2 friends share my taste in reading material, so the books have been coming and going. If they also shared my taste for end of the world/survival reading there would be another 30-40 books available to them. Oh well.