Talk:public library

It's quite hard to DEFINE a public library accurately. Perhap the best definition is: "a public library is any institution which calls itself a public library"!

The definition which I replaced listed lots of things that libraries actually do, but are not related to their libraryship; but in a dictionary we try to define entries, not describe particular examples. Pol098 03:21, 23 July 2005 (UTC)

public library
Is it sum of parts? Does it mean anything beyond a library which is public? Note we have public school, though not public hospital or public park. ---&gt; Tooironic 08:09, 31 July 2011 (UTC)
 * or public garden, which could merit entry --Boody Roody 21:56, 2 August 2011 (UTC)
 * Public school is at least set aside by the possible difference in intonation. There are a lot of things to know about what makes a library public, the free borrowing of books principally, but I think this is covered by the meaning of public. Weak delete. DAVilla 16:42, 18 August 2011 (UTC)

Keep. Technical term, see: w:Category:Types of library. --Chris Boston 05:12, 6 August 2011 (UTC)
 * This not Wikipedia. Wiktionary does not include terms which can be broken down into the sum of their parts. There are over 30 different "types" of library in that list, and I imagine most of them would not be includible here. ---&gt; Tooironic 00:52, 10 August 2011 (UTC)
 * If you don't want to read Wikipedia, grab a book. I recommend William John Murison: The public library: its origins, purpose, and significance as a social institution (London 1955). It's technical term. --Chris Boston 02:18, 10 August 2011 (UTC)
 * Wiktionary's Criteria for Inclusion does not look at technical terms, it looks at whether terms have meaning beyond the sum of their parts (apart from other things). How does this term mean anything beyond a "library" that is "public"? ---&gt; Tooironic 14:52, 10 August 2011 (UTC)
 * Start with the question: What is the meaning of "public"? Public funded or open to the public? Is a national library a public library? And what is the meaning of "literal translation" (Finnish) if "public library" is SoP? --Chris Boston 21:03, 15 August 2011 (UTC)
 * The Finnish entry was confusing, fixed. --Hekaheka (talk) 22:26, 4 May 2012 (UTC)
 * keep, per Chris Boston. This is a technical term. All technical terms should be kept. The CFI should be changed on this point, as it might lead to the deletion of many technical terms, such as Atlantic salmon (the meaning is Atlantic + salmon). Lmaltier 08:20, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

kept -- Liliana • 03:37, 4 March 2012 (UTC)