Libraries are about so much more than borrowing books.
A library is the one place you are allowed to enter without paying a fee, joining a group etc. It's a place of safety for all those left wandering after Care in the Community/Gov cuts in funding closed other meeting places/homes.
Not everyone has a computer at home and increasingly we are being asked to conduct our affairs online. Most internet users are accessing the web via a mobile device but this small screen display doesn't work so well if you need to enter complex data i.e. apply for a job, etc. or if you are visually impaired, or need to save or print a copy. We need to have public access on PCs in libraries.
Those in receipt of Job Seekers Allowance are required to make a set number of job applications online per week as a condition of receiving benefit. On their low income is it presumed they can buy a computer and fund a connection?
Libraries run Book Clubs, story times, reading promotions, help with homework, newspapers and provide up to date and valid reference material. They organise home delivery to housebound readers, run Audio book services for those with a visual impairment and lend large-print books. You don't see many of those in charity/second-hand shops.
Amazing as it may seem, not everything on the web is true - witness Wikipedia's attempts to censor what people contribute to its pages. Some of it is absolute falsehood, speculation and rubbish.
Google et al don't always find the most appropriate resources - web sites employ devious tricks to promote themselves to search engines.
Qualified librarians/Information technologists employed (in shrinking numbers in public libraries) can find a way through this undergrowth, using a combination of print and online sources.
Did you know it takes 6 years to become a Chartered Librarian? The same as a vet/dentist/doctor. And working close to the general public is an education in itself - they can become wise people!
And Libraries lend books - and usually for up to 3 weeks without charge. Books in good condition, books that aren't sticky, torn, or with yellowed-pages.
So often you hear respected prominent people say how much of their childhood they spent in libraries. How they worked their way through the children's library and moved on to the adult library. We need to make this possible for future generations too.
I'll get off my soap box now but I do feel so very passionately about this.