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.