Many people have private memberships at Netflix or Blockbuster. While libraries have "free" videos, the private sector have a much better selection and without any controversy.
There used to be book rentals decades ago (I've seen such tagging in some used books).
My public library doesn't serve me well (although it is a wonderful place for homeless to sleep and bathe and there are all of the free internet porn and chat machines).
When I want to read newspapers and publications, I go to a private library at Rice University. Although I am not a student or alumni, they do not restrict access to those who have paid in. I sign in as a guest.
I believe the first libraries in this country were privately owned.
If we keep talking like this, some may wake up to a notion of separation of School and State. Certainly would take away from the power of leftist organizations (and the ALA is one).
They were. And in our colonial period, some subscription libraries in England even had delivery service ... pay the fees, and they'd ship your books out to your estate in the sticks. Personal property tax was one reason rich people would pay to borrow books - also storage issues.
I'd pay a fee for a library so that I didn't have to find space for books. If my family bought all the books we read, we'd have to camp out in the yard!
As with other functions that used to be private and are now public, it was not the failure of the private supplier that drove the government to take over, but ideology. For example, Andrew Carnegie would provide a grant for a library only if the community passed a provision for tax funding of the operations. There's no practical reason that a group of citizens couldn't collect subscriptions or donations to run the library, and even guarantee access for the poor, but government ownership was a positive good for Carnegie.