Thoughts on… libraries

When I say libraries, which one pops up in your head? The small cozily furnished one in your primary or secondary school? Or the slightly larger better furnished one in university? Or the neighbourhood library, a two-storey building with separate children and adult sections (I’m taking the Tampines Regional Library as example)? Or the one in which you went in not to read or borrow books but to have a naughty rendezvous with your squeeze behind some well-stocked bookshelf on a deserted level?

Lately I’ve been preoccupied with libraries. Not that I have been visiting them, on the other hand, I have not stepped into a public library ever since I completed my degree last year. I am not shunning them, in fact, I love libraries. But because I have a very good library at my workplace, I have no need to visit a public one.

I especially love the one at my workplace, this tall 11-storey hulk of a book repository. I love it. It doesn’t have an awe-inspiring architecture, but stepping into it gives me a sense of excitement at what I may discover next. Although I do not have the luxury of time to be slow browsing shelves after shelves of books, the library has quite an extensive collection. The best thing about it? The loan period is a cool one month with two renewals. So effectively you get 3 months! Which library provides such long loan period? Plus, you get to loan eight books at one go.

In comparison, the nearest public library to my workplace is quite a disappointment. Although, to be fair, I haven’t stepped into it for a long time, but the last time I was there I found the collection wanting. The loan period is also unsatisfactory. Yes, you may assume that people who visit libraries are avid readers that devour books at one per sitting, but that does not mean that everyone is like that. I am an avid reader but recently my reading speed has slowed down quite a bit. I now consume on the average one book every three months. It is slow, very slow. I don’t have all day to read. I only read when I have snatches of free time. Hence, I rarely borrow books from public libraries anymore.

Another plus about my workplace library (bonus more like) is that I can recommend and suggest books for them to purchase and I will be the first in line to read them. How amazing is that? I have been recommending books (I think I’d have recommended about thirty books so far?) and reading them. One of these books is a huge and thick pictorial on libraries all around the world, The Library: A World History by James WP Campbell. It is an astoundingly beautiful book. The picture spread is simply breath taking. I would have purchased it for myself but it is quite costly and it is simply too large and heavy to keep in my house. You should borrow it if you can find it in your library.

I have also read a book called The Library Book, a collection of essays by popular writers who described their experiences with libraries (a sanctuary and safe haven to most of them). The intent of the book was to raise money for The Reading Agency, an organization in UK that encourages people to read and to enjoy doing it. There were quite a few essays in there that criticized the UK government’s intent to cut funding and close smaller libraries. While alarming, it is true that libraries are getting more expensive to maintain. However, there are steps taken to evolve the library to attract new generations of visitors, not only readers, but users. Nowadays a library provides many other services besides book loaning. It is evolving, as it should, to keep up with the times. To me, it is a sign of progress as well. As infatuated as I am with the grand mammoth libraries of yore, it is quite impossible for it to remain as relevant today as it was before. Evolution is needed.

I am not surprised to find that libraries played an important role in the lives of the writers in The Library Book. The library played no minor role in my life as well. It gave me access to books, which I have professed my undying love for (in this post), and hence, access to the betterment of my life. Just like the writers, books provided them with plenty of benefits and advantages. Not once have I encountered or heard of people who were made disadvantaged by reading. Libraries welcome everyone, from all walks of life, from all corners, to use them for recreation or self-improvement.

Like what Karin Slaughter wrote in her essay in the book, and which I will quote here to end my post:

“Libraries don’t service only left-wingers or right. They don’t judge by class, race or religion. They service everyone in their community, no matter their circumstances. Rich or poor; no one is denied. Libraries are not simply part of our guarantee to the pursuit of happiness. They are a civil right.”