Some things, of course, could be effectively provided by both the state and markets, and so the issue becomes the mix between the two. Consider access to books. Bookstores and libraries readily provide both. Commercial bookstores distribute books to people on the basis of their ability to pay; libraries distribute books to people on the principle “to each according to need.” In a library, if a book is already checked out, the person wanting the book is placed on a waiting list. Books are rationed on the deeply egalitarian principle that a day in every person’s life is of equal value. A well-resourced library will then use the length of the waiting list as an indicator of the need to order more copies of a book. Libraries often also distribute other important resources: music, videos, access to computers, tools, toys, meeting rooms and, in some libraries, performance spaces. Libraries thus constitute a mechanism of distribution that embodies the egalitarian ideal of giving everyone equal access to the resources needed for a flourishing life. In a democratic socialist economy, there would be an expansion of nonmarket, library-like ways of giving people access to many resources.