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Comment by kingleopold | Hacker News Reader

I dont think rural library would have up to date CS books even now but I'm ready to be wrong by anyone, not one example, I mean majority of them?

Right now you can learn hardest things, while on flight or in some remote area, crazy difference

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If they have a budget, they would certainly buy books on request. As a teen I got my local city library to acquire copies of The White Book (K&R), SICP, Stevens' TCP/IP Illustrated, UNIX System Administration Handbook, and many more. Unfortunately, those books were all "culled" for lack of use. Since the start of COVID, tho, I've put in many requests and they now have (embarrassingly) many current, and hopefully long relevant, STEM books.

Nowadays, I concede that online collections and inter-library loans of books are great (discoverability can be an issue), but still some library out there has to actually own the copies or the online rights (which are more expensive in the long run).

Most libraries could secure specific books if you needed them and they weren't stocked at that specific location. It was very dependent on the library but your local librarian would know the process for your specific location.

The libraries I know of have inter-library loan where you can borrow a book from any library in their network. I got a Real Analysis book this way (no way my local library would have that).

It's absolutely more accessible now, agreed.

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