US public library visits

US libraries emptied and Thailand's beaches emptied at the same moment, which is a small reminder that covid was comprehensive: it took away both the book and the sun. Somewhere, a librarian and a beach masseuse shared a feeling.

Both collapsed in 2020 for direct covid reasons. US public library visits dropped sharply as buildings closed for months and reopened only for curbside pickup, while Thailand's tourist arrivals fell by roughly 83% as borders closed to international travel. Two very different public spaces, one domestic and one distant, both emptied by the same virus.

So the correlation is the planetary reach of a single pandemic. Closed at home, closed abroad. Nowhere to go. Nothing to read there either.