If you don't identify as a programmer, if that isn't your core strength, if you just program now and then because it's expedient, then treating libraries as services may make more sense. If a major issue pops up you'll need to find more expert help, but you knew that already.
I did. :)
Even so, I think it's also worth considering that libraries also represent learning opportunities for some (like myself). For whatever reason, perhaps because it isn't my core strength, the only approach to programming that I have found to work for me is to continually try to do something. I seem only to be able to truly absorb the finer points when they are encountered in the context of a whole.
For a long time this kept me from programming altogether.
