Libraries Today and Their Continued Importance

Up until the invention and further development of the internet, libraries had been the center of all complex knowledge collected by the human race throughout our time on earth. Needless to say, the library has been a place of reference and refuge for the countless diverse communities that have surround them for centuries. However, many would say that role of the library has changed dramatically in recent decades and that we might not even need their services in the future.

Aside from institutions of higher education such as Penn State, you may ask, “Who even needs the library anymore?” When considering the large amount of public funded libraries around the country one could easily ask, “Why are we still paying for this? Why is our government not moving on to support more useful facilities for its people?” In an age of such electronic dependence and convenience, these seem like valid questions.

Believe it or not, the concept of the public library, meaning a sanctuary used to house books and other mediums of information maintained by government funds and accessible by the public, has been around since the fourth century BC in Egypt. Throughout the growth of the Roman Empire, the rise of great civilizations of Western Europe, and the expansion of those civilizations to North America, the public library has remained a feature of all intellectual societies. With the role of providing knowledge and a place of gathering to these societies, you can see how integral the library became throughout the course of time.

A view of the ruins of the Library of Alexandria, one of the largest, most significant library of the ancient world (est.3rd Century BC).

As mentioned earlier, the traditional public library system continues to become more and more archaic as we progress further and further in technology and demand more and more convenience in our lives. With the widespread development of internet use, the need for libraries to freely lend books is specifically decreasing. However, the function of libraries in recent times has evolved, and has largely retained its importance in the lives of community members seeking knowledge, refuge, and other informational and technological services. Today, countless libraries across the United States are responsible for providing access to the internet and other necessary technological equipment like copiers, printers, and fax machines, providing instructional services like after school care and academic tutoring, and simply offering a place to work, meet with friends, and maybe even pick up a nice novel.

Perhaps the strongest attribute of the library that has remained true through today has been unrestricted, free access to an abundance of information and a study place for the common man. What an amazing concept! Especially with use of libraries today being largely directed toward technology services and meeting/working spaces, it is important to note the role of the government in providing the facility to the public for free. If these spaces and availabilities to modern technology were not welcoming and open without charge, it is possible that the people who look to libraries to provide these services would simply have no other place to turn. Without access to internet and other technologies, these people, similar to the traditional library, would have an impossible task of reaching the rest of society.  When you think about the role that the public library system has in everyday communities in that regard, we again begin to appreciate libraries for what they truly are.

View of the main reading room of the New York City Public Library.

The main point to take from the presence of our libraries today is that we would not have them if it were not for our government’s funding and support. The role of the government in the lives of its people can become controversial in such a democracy as ours, but the existence of our national library systems proves to be a necessary intervention for the overall betterment of the American people.  From the beginning of the public library, this has been a fundamental principle, and this should continue throughout the future.

Sources

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-haber/the-changing-role-of-libr_b_803722.html

http://www.history-magazine.com/libraries.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2015/04/28/do-we-need-libraries/#6b0b01ae6b91

http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2013/04/community-centered-23-reasons-why-your-library-is-the-most-important-place-in-town/

 

One thought on “Libraries Today and Their Continued Importance

  1. Starting off I’d just like to say I enjoyed reading this and it gave me a reminder that public libraries are an overlooked public resource in todays world. In todays world in a civilized country majority of the population has access to technology and access to the internet, relieving the need to get a book out on the topic. I agree on how a library can and has been proven to better the people of our nation. Education is the key to success and what a library can provide besides just books like a quiet place to study or printing abilities has greatly helped civilians gain the access to an education.

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