This took me back a little to a few years ago, in my year one in university, when we all had to take on this compulsory course, GST 147, Use of Library. At the time, I didn't understand why we even had to study that when I found that less and fewer people visited there. But I realized that they needed us to know the basic ethics on library use and how to navigate the massive library structure of the school.
Back in high school. I used the library a lot. Until I became a prefect and had a very large room to myself(as the one in charge) and to my convenience, I went be the library every other day. I would spend hours reading and studying. Sometimes, I borrowed textbooks, and very less often, I borrowed novels. The experience of a school library made me eager and I went out and visited this public library very near my house. Massive as it is, calm as it is, I didn't very safe there(for certain reasons, i may be unable to explain well) plus, they didn't have a lot of books. They had probably been borrowed and hadn't been returned. But I liked to read and I liked the calm of the insides of a library.
Fast forward to the present time, now in my university, I don't go near a library. My friends/ study buds have pleaded with me to go get a library card to no avail. Why not? I don't know.
In all of this, I'm just a person who prefers a clear, deafening, calm place to study. Yet, I'm not one to do digital books. I've said it over and again, I'm crude in some of my dealings, particularly in the area of reading and writing. I have loads of pdfs and notes I have snapped in my phone's gallery. But guess what? I can never read them off of my phone or laptop. I'd always try to make jotting into a notebook from which I'd read. I always preferred to hold a book in my hand. Turning through the pages, making the search for things myself and rather then getting quick answers, bumping into other topics or concepts around the particular topic being searched for does not just gives me more background knowledge but also satisfies me.
Libraries serve a purpose as not everything is will or ever will be in digital format. Online reference materials are great. there is no question about it. They've made information far more accessible to far more people. But printed books still have their place.
Not to forget that technology can be sort of like a jungle and sorting through the facts can be difficult but for a librarian guide. Libraries are it. It would be very difficult to replace them and oh, they should never be made to become museums or historical. Scrapping them shouldn’tever be a thing worth considering. No-no! Both the digital libraries and phusical libraries are equally essential to use.
Thanks for gracing this post.
Greetings!