Haven’t tried it much yet but Kanopy seems like a bonus
In my area they aren’t funded by usage at all, they are funded by property tax levies. Our property taxes have doubled in the last three years which is particularly burdensome to people on fixed incomes and the lower middle class who don’t qualify for subsidized housing. Libraries are great, but the money has to come from somewhere and it affects rents too. It also funds things like police and fire but we’re talking hundreds of dollars per month.
Wonder how much the wealthy folks in your area are being taxed, comparatively
In this case it is assessed by property value, so wealthy homes are taxed even more. Some approaching or exceeding what would be a rent payment to an average earner every month, just in taxes. So even if you inherited a nice home in a nice neighborhood, you might have to give it up if you couldn’t afford the taxes. Still not terrible, you could sell it. But it is their way of keeping the “less desirables” out of the nice neighborhoods.
My local library has little routers you can borrow for up to a week at a time, ofc there are restrictions with the worst being no using during nighttime (iirc ~10pm-5am)
However for those without modern wifi I imagine any Internet at all is a godsend.
Checking stuff out helps too. You don’t have to read it. Grab anything that looks interesting and return it in a week or two. Just having it in your house as an option is cool.