Question for the DT: if you're in some kind of online community like this one, a Facebook group etc, and someone posts asking if anyone has a specific book, do you think replies of "have you tried the library?" are a) fair enough or b) NO FUCKING SHIT SHERLOCK THAT WAS THE FIRST THING I DID ? I see these posts often and people always respond with the library advice, and sometimes the OP will reply and say yes I already tried the library but they don't have it hence me asking.
When I see someone asking for a book title, I assume they have, you know, CHECKED THE LIBRARY.
I dont think ive ever borrowed a book from the library, not after school anyway. And for younger generations who basically do everything online the library is probably even less likely to be their first thought. So i dont think someone mentioning it is bad
It depends a bit on the community it's in. "Have you tried the library?" could be a suggestion designed to actually be helpful, or it could be a way of saying "this group is not an F%#*$ library, go and ask somewhere that's actually supposed to hook you up with books".
I think half the communication obligation lies with the person asking, eg Does anyone know where I can get book, have tried the library they don’t have it’ would tell people what the problem is and they would get more useful responses. On Facebook in particular I see so may vague posts it’s a total guessing game to figure out what the person wants, and then they get mad the responders haven’t read their mind. (But it’s highly entertaining to read the exchanges!)