Are libraries still important now that so many books can be accessed over the internet? With e-books, audio books, Youtube videos and Netflix, is there really any need for libraries any more?
I recently listened to a speech by British writer, Neil Gaiman, about the need for libraries.
He said that reading was a vital escape for him as a child. He hated his boarding school, the random acts of violence that happened there, and his lack of power in a world dominated by bigger boys and adults. But he could always escape into a book.
His parents knew that he loved reading, and seem to have been quite busy and at times inattentive parents. So at weekends and on school holidays, they would just take their young son to the library in the morning, and leave him there by himself all day, to read whatever he found.
Gaiman says that librarians have warned him not to tell this story, in case many more parents get the idea that a library is a free daycare centre for their children. But in any case, a library can be a place of calm for people to escape to. It can also be a place of warmth in the winter, and air conditioned coolness in the summer for local residents to escape to for a while.
And not everybody has access to e-book readers, or the ability to connect to the internet at home. Libraries have the wonderful advantage of being free, and available to everyone.
“The only thing that you absolutely have to
know, is the location of the library.”
Albert Einstein
Vocabulary:
a boarding school – a school at which
students are able to stay overnight during the school term
inattentive – tending not to pay attention
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