by Hannah Lauder

Created on: June 11, 2009   Last Updated: July 08, 2009

I have developed something of a fetish for libraries, having worked for one during college and being an enthusiastic patron (nevermind the overdue fines). There is nothing like browsing the shelves, finding the exact book you have been wanting for so long to read. Thankfully I have had the pleasure and good fortune of visiting many excellent, well-stocked libraries. Alas, the one in my town leaves something to be desired.

Their selection is horrendous and pitiful. Though it is possible to order others off an InterLibrary Loan scheme, a simple browse will not turn up much of interest. The sad thing is flipping to the due date slips and finding that most of the material had not been checked out since 2004. There is no security system, making it easy for anyone who was so inclined to steal. The library itself appears to be justifying its existence through a $1 book sale, internet access, and providing special discount offers and tickets to local attractions.

Even so, I believe that the public library has its place in today's society. Priorities, however, vary. One important factor is how much funding a library is able to get, and the general attitudes and interest towards reading and literature in general. A more prosperous town is going to receive more money, and its citizens more leisure. A poorer town is likely to react towards the idea of a public library with indifference or find the entire concept not worthy enough an expenditure.

Nevertheless, that there is a library, however crude, points to the fact of the public library as a tradition. Every town has its schools, its hot spots, and its library. In any place that I have lived in, I've always taken it for granted that the city had at least one. You cannot remove the public library from the conception of a town itself. In films and in literature we have the stereotypical library, complete with the stereotypical librarian.

As for the fear that technology will make the public library obsolete, I say that libraries can only thrive off the new advancements in computers, ebooks, and cataloguing. Not to mention, most people simply like to a hold a tangible book in their hands. In the end, it is not a matter of public libraries being a thing of the past. There will always be a library. Rather, it is a matter of how current the library can be. And if a library is unable to thrive, it will merely be a dead weight.

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