Really, I think libraries should also be actual data centers.
As in, a server closet. Preferability solar powered by panels on the building's roof.
It can host neighborhood email and bulletin boards, personal websites, offer some shared services and compute.
@socketwench we talked community-owned compute at NPDevSummit last year. This is a topic that @pono at Software Freedom Conservancy is interested in.
@socketwench - Add a mesh chatbot with locally-relevent information, schedules, and tips, and you have a winner.
"I find myself in Sometown USA. Let me chat with the town librarian bot to find interesting places and events to attend while I'm here."
Sep 27, 2026, 9:18 PM@chris @socketwench why not chat with an actual librarian?
@entailment @socketwench - I might not know where the library is, it may not be open, etc.
I don't have anything against talking to librarians - I rather enjoy it - but there are times where the library is not physically accessible.
Sep 27, 2026, 5:02 PM@socketwench I would volunteer to help maintain my local library's data center closet.
I have a black thumb, so I'm no good in the community garden, but I would absolutely rock community data support.
I'm probably not alone
Sep 27, 2026, 6:04 PM@mousey @socketwench I would as well.
@drwho @mousey @socketwench And my Axe. I mean, me too. I would love community servers to be the norm!
I’d put email and fedi instances at the post office, but I also wouldn’t make the perfect the enemy of the good.
(Reasoning: it is part of the business of the post office to *not* deliver mail to the *wrong* person; libraries more naturally handle information that’s available to anyone.)
@clew @socketwench I'm not sure if it's still the case, but libraries were previously given a generous subnet of public IPs. It would make them ideal for community data centers.
@socketwench I totally agree. My local group is doing just that, and we have a system for the local library servers to share date p2p between the web apps. Details at https://lores.tech