I did some field research on libraries in the UK about twenty years ago. The main thing I remember is that the most frequently asked question at almost all enquiry desks was "Is there a toilet here I can use?"
I occasionally try to work in Guildford library. But the main study area is next to the enquiry desk, which, as one of the only presences in the the town for the County Council, is where bus passes are given out. I listened the other day to a family of elderly Belgians trying to get their passes, but being stymied by the fact that they did not have a UK National Insurance number. They could not understand why reeling off their social security numbers from Belgium wouldn't work. Only one of them could speak English and was interpreting for the others. You can imagine. I could hardly go and shush them, but...
I'm pretty sure that it's the same thing with art galleries in the UK. One of the main reasons for people visiting the National Gallery was "to get out of the rain". Makes me wonder if there's some cultural issue around libraries in the UK. Perhaps as a population the Brits don't value them enough and so not enough people fight for them.
I got a library card in Barcelona with my passport, by the way, and I was wondering how they'd chase up the fines with that information. But now I've discovered they don't have fines.
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