What are libraries for? To the generations that have grown up with free access to local public libraries, this may seem like a stupid question. The recent library closures in UK and USA have generated heated debate on both sides of the Atlantic. Should we forget about libraries now that we have the iPad and Amazon Kindle? Should we force our children to look things up in printed encyclopaedias when it's so much easier to search for things on the Internet? Should we continue to pay for a building full of books?
According to author and motivational speaker Seth Godin, libraries were initially just "warehouses for books worth sharing". This at a time when books cost "about as much as a small house". We've come a long way from that. Books have been accessibly priced, widely available and part of our everyday lives for centuries. There are, of course, regions of the world where books are still a treasured luxury but most of us in the developed countries have encountered, read through, and owned our fair share of books. Many of us have grown up using libraries. But when was the last time you visited one?
Some people argue that libraries are becoming obsolete. The argument about library closures always seems to boil down to whether paper books themselves are becoming obsolete. I think this is very short-sighted.
A good library is worth saving and a bad one is worth improving because when libraries work, they offer us much more than books on paper. You can also download free ebooks and audibooks from the convenience of your own home and pop them on that digital device. Good libraries have good librarians and good library assistants. Good libraries offer help for job seekers, group sessions for new parents and their children, access to valuable market research data for would-be entrepreneurs and all manner of things that don't always seem at the forefront of discussions on the value of the library.
Article comments
1 - Cheryl Malandrinos
Obsolete? No, but libraries are not as vital to many as they were when I was growing up. Even in schools they are teaching children to look up information on the Internet on computers sitting in their school library. Yes, there are reference books there, but in my time volunteering at our school's library I never saw them doing anything other than collecting dust.
What I feel libraries did and still do well is give us a sense of community. This year my girls once again participated in our library's Summer Reading Program. This gave us a chance to visit the library at least once a week, run into some friends who were also participating, and help us get to know our children's librarian better. Since they had art activities at the library based around the program, the girls got a chance to re-connect with some of the friends they hadn't seen since the end of school.
Perhaps instead of closing libraries, some of these could become privately funded ones. We had that happen in a nearby town. It's not a perfect solution, as you can't borrow from public libraries in neighboring towns, since you are no longer part of the public library system; but isn't that better than shutting the doors and not offering services at all?
2 - Nukapai
I think making the comparison of 'looking things up on the computer' versus 'reference books' is still somewhat stuck in the idea that libraries are all about paper books. In my local library at least, the advantage to looking up at home on the internet versus looking the same stuff up at the library is that there are far more professional reference sources available at the library - for free. If I tried to access the same information privately I'd have to pay thousands of pounds in subscription fees. I suppose there would be room for a privately funded library system. As long as it would be run as not-for-profit organisation. I think public libraries are a mark of a good society that doesn't judge everything based on profitability.