Do We Need Libraries?
I rarely use a library and I haven’t borrowed a book in perhaps forty years. I’ve still actually got it as my mother-in-law’s dachsund chewed it and as I had to pay for it, they let me keep it.
I only use a library for reference. I was in Cambridge a few months ago and I needed to answer a question, so I looked it up in an old directory of the city. At home, I would have used the Internet and usually on the move, I’d find an Internet cafe.
So to me libraries only have one point and that is as a place to look up facts or perhaps get ideas.
To me books are something to buy and cherish. Perhaps, this is because my father was a printer, but also because most books I read regularly, are the sort of reference books or histories, you don’t find on the web or in libraries. I suppose now, I probably buy more books on the Internet than anywhere else too.
Books too, are a recyclable resource. When I move, a lot of my fully-read histories and references will go to Oxfam. but why can’t they go down the pub or the local cafe. The rules should be as they are in many hotels; you can take the book, if you add another one to the collection. Many pubs and cafes could and some already do, provide a quiet room, where customers could read, whilst they are having a coffee or a glass of something stronger.
So I very much feel that libraries as we know it are past their sell-by date. Perhaps, though, we do need quiet reading rooms in very much the old Victorian tradition, where knowledge can be passed on, books can be recycled etc.
The trouble is though the Middle Classes won’t like it. But in these times of austerity, they’d actually support more jobs, by buying the book they want to borrow in the first place and then recycling it creatively. They might even get more pleasure, if they then swapped it in the local cafe for something they would have never thought about reading in the first place.
So before you criticise me, just think when was the last time you borrowed a book from a library!
Remember too, that before public libraries were as common as they are now, companies like Boots used to run them.
The Anonymous Widower 
I must admit I am on the fence Re: this question. I love libraries! And I have checked out a book within the last year or two. But I am a slow reader so I find buying a book allows me more time to relish its pages. Perhaps libraries will eventually go the way of the video store, but I would find it a sad day.
Comment by charisian | August 24, 2010 |
You hit the nail on the head. It was also sad for many, not me, when steam trains were scrapped, but we must move on, as our lives change and technology changes. For instance how many of us will use these eBook readers. I won’t at present, but I might.
Comment by AnonW | August 24, 2010 |
I really have to disagree with this. My children and I use the library regularly and are there every week, borrowing books and returning the ones we have just read. I read to them before bed every night and although they must have something like 500 books between them, they still enjoy the thrill of hunting down something new. They enjoy the excursion, too. A lot of books I read have references to other books in them, and I regularly order books online from the library. They probably get an average of 3 books a month ordered for me. If I then find I cannot live without the book, I buy a copy of my own. I personally read 3-5 books a week on average. I couldn’t possibly afford to buy that amount of books, let alone store them! So, yes, libraries are a wonderful resource that should be cherished. Think of all the people who don’t have the opportnity to buy books. How many children would miss out on the love of reading (particularly those with almost illiterate parents) if they didn’t have this place to dip into.
Comment by Carol | August 24, 2010 |
I have hundreds of books on a very diverse range of non-fiction subjects, bought from various places including on-line.
I use the library mostly only for fiction, which I read for relaxation. On the whole I dont buy fiction. I started using the library when my children were quite small, and I simply couldnt afford to buy fiction, even second hand.
Via my library I can access documents on line free of charge which I would have to pay for if I wasnt a member of the library – OED is one of the ones I use most.
And all the heritage information in the heritage library will not be online for many years.
Comment by Liz P | August 24, 2010 |
Carol. I do take note ofr what you say, but feel that libraries will change over the years. I do think that we’ll access books differently. As an example, when I told OXFAM I was moving and clearing out a lot of books, they begged for them. And that OXFAM shop was not in a salubrious part of London.
We must encourage children to read, learn and explore and libraries are one way of doing it. But others will develop. For instance every TV program, should have a page on the Internet or the red button, which gives a reading list. I’ve searched the Internet after several prograqms and couldedn’t find their sources, to buy the book myself. That is bad!
Comment by AnonW | August 24, 2010 |
AnonW –
I am sure if you asked at your local library ( you don’t have to visit physically – many have online Ask a Librarian services) they would be able to give you the answer. The internet is not the holy grail where everything can be found, although many seem to think so these days.
Comment by Daren | August 24, 2010 |
http://www.bookcrossing.com/
This offers a creative way of recycling your books.
Yes I have used library in recent years maybe to haul home several books to research something or even a DVD such as set of early Morse episodes. As for fiction, I prefer not to be under pressure to finish a book by ‘return by’ date.
Comment by Anne | August 25, 2010 |
[…] In an earlier post, I questioned whether we needed libraries. Now it is reported in Saturday’s East Anglian […]
Pingback by Loss-Making Libraries « The Anonymous Widower | September 29, 2010 |