With all the media and technology moving us forward, we tend to forget how our life appeared to be 10-20 years ago and what we used to do. Of course, current teenagers didn’t even get to experience what some people got.
The library is of the things people used to cherish and visit all the time. They did it especially often in the school or university, having libraries around the campus and writing an essay all the time; students needed to do the research. Yet, computers and internet made this experience completely different, bringing it to another level but leaving people without work or even worse – making libraries shut down, reducing their working hours and cutting down the number of books.
Why Are Libraries Shutting Down?
The percent of library usage among US citizens is decreasing slowly. People are stepping down from visiting libraries, and as we’ve already mentioned, it’s mostly happening because of new technology. While the elderly population states that they don’t have time to go anymore, younger one claims that they mostly buy books, borrow them or read them on electronic devices right from their home. Just like visiting service called PapersOwl, they access the web and search for any information they need, simple as that. In any case, time passes and changes everything.
As for teenagers, in 2015 only 23% said that they are used to visiting their local library, and this number is quickly falling, making physical libraries almost unnecessary for the younger people.
Is There Any Other Reason?
Even if a huge part of the usage comes from teenagers that use new devices more, studies proved that technology is not the only one to blame. Even when students used computers at their house or dorms, they’d make use of it in the library… if the government invested more into it.
It’s true, the number of visitors in the local US libraries quickly decreased as soon as the government stopped investing properly into the libraries, cutting off the stuff and decreasing working hours. Even when the original books were shared online on the library websites, people still came to have a copy of it in a paper, as weird as it may sound, so e-books are not in fault.
Even after having different researches done, it’s still proven that libraries haven’t got less popular, as much as media likes to believe. It’s just that people don’t have proper access to them as they are not opened at the time they need to grab a book.
What Is Needed To Bring Activity To Life?
Libraries need:
- more government investments;
- more staff;
- more copies of new books and quicker delivery;
- a lot more classes and interesting activities to indulge in.
Maybe then instead of paying for the writing service, our kids would like to spend some time in the library and research themselves, finding some new interesting information and feeling it under their fingers, not just sit and swipe all over the phone screen.
What Can We Do At Our Local Library?
Research, study, listen or watch something. You can actually do anything you want here, as long as you’re keeping quiet and not bothering anybody. Found an interesting podcast and don’t want anybody to bother you? Come here and listen to it. Working on an essay and reading a PapersOwl review? Don’t worry, you can study and research in peace here. Grab some books and have a calm, relaxing time in a cozy warm place. What can be better than this?
Look out for a new book and find something interesting. It’s always nice to browse the shelves as you find some interesting cover that pulls you in. You quickly grab it and read the first page, hoping that it’s just the right one for you. This is one of the nicest things to do.
Borrow a book you liked. It’s just what libraries were created for; taking copies of the books and reading them at home in some period of time. It’s not just for elders as some may believe, but a lot of teenagers like to have physical copies in their hands, too.
Is There a Future For Real Libraries?
Based on the annual reports, the future of offline libraries is very bright and clear as long as the government stops treating them badly, trying a new way to revive them. People are still interested in visiting and reading physical copies of books, which is incredible. We just need to gain attention for the problem more.
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