I suppose book stores can provide newer works more quickly, but I still
find public libraries the greatest places to find information via
reading. And they are the closest thing we have to a socialist
institution, despite having been founded by the richest of capitalists.
Ah the contradictions...

As to the ability to read and browse in big stores, my infrequent visits
to Borders - usually to check their CD collection - find many folks
doing what they do in libraries...reading, without buying...nice!

people find ways - we have to - to circumvent the forces of the market,
and they are not only through stealing books. Apparently, you can read a
great deal in these places, as long as your hands are clean and you
don't call too much attention to yourself.

My own way to support my local CD shop - very small, very little stock -
is to find the things I want at a big store, write their label numbers,
and then order them through my local, neighborhood shop. The same can be
done with books, for those who still buy them.

fs