When I was a kid, a local library helped me stay fed as an immigrant family with no money. I couldn't afford lunch and this was at the point my parents worked 6 am till midnight. I wrote book reports on books I read at the library with a volunteer tutor who taught English. You can exchange that book report for a small box of personal pizza. The limit was like once a month but the people at the local library gave me a voucher any time I brought a book report.

Idk if those people are still alive or on reddit or what but they really saved my ass and helped lighten some burden off my parents.

We talk shit about how expensive it is to live here but taxes and people donating to local charity funds really helped.

Right now, libraries are amazing hub of modern media. Think like Barnes and noble but free and you can check out and borrow shit from the store.