Okay, but you're just one data point. Don't make a bigger deal of it than it is.

Since the books are well-used, that pretty obviously shows that the library is popular and doing a good job at serving some customers.

"Push-pin versus poetry"

The concept of the utility of media is important.

If Family Guy was 24/7 every channel, approval ratings and viewership may still stay high.

Is that a proper way to measure utility, or value?

For any readers who are interested in actual statistics on library usage:

http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/09/09/library-usage-and-enga...

Good data points: half of America don't visit their public library even once a year. The rest, maybe once a year.

If we curated public buildings like libraries curate books, we'd all sell our libraries for $1.

Sounds like you have a crappy library in your town. My town's library is linked with all of the other libraries in my county. Books can be requested and shipped to my home library within a couple of days. This has lead to librarians working together and "specializing" in certain materials. All of the libraries have a good selection of popular material.

My library tends to have a larger non-fiction section than most. Another town houses a huge collection of movies. Yet another hosts a tremendous audiobook collection. A simple online request will deliver any of these materials nearby or I can wander in and browse if I'm looking for something more mainstream.

Perhaps you should consider getting more involved if your library isn't meeting your needs.

Have you tried making requests at your local library? They've always been very accommodating.