In a world where video rental stores closed down for the sake of convenience; streaming; why do libraries still exist except for the backing of local government?
If government continues to support libraries, they will exist indefinitely. That might mean that no-one uses them, but they’ll remain operational. It’s the same deal with Amtrak, I bet you’ve never ridden on an Amtrak railcar before, but nevertheless, many passenger trains take their routes every day.
Now, libraries aren’t over yet. They still get active users and many venture into deals to expand to audiobooks and eBooks, but the physical stores will eventually fall out of favor because of the abundance of the physical content online.
How did libraries outlive video stores? (Probably) government. And because libraries are free in the US.