THE ENDURING RELEVANCE OF LIBRARIES IN A DIGITAL AGE

Truthfully, as humans, we are dynamic beings and that is why for us the only thing that seems constant is change. And then, most times, those things around us also have to change too for us to appreciate them better. Over the years, we will agree that things around us are not the same way we’ve always known them. There has been slight, moderate and significant changes in most aspects of our lives since the day we were born to this moment we are in. Some of these things might seem like they have changed but then, taking a deep look at things, we will realize that it is us as humans that have changed.

So, for this post, the Hivelearners topic for the second edition asks us to share our opinions on who needs libraries these days when we can easily get everything and more on the internet and rather use that money to build other aspects of our lives. So without further ado, let’s take a read at my thoughts on this topic.

First of all, I want to remind us all that education is key because as we always say, knowledge is power. In a digital world like ours, this is actually one of the other best time to have libraries and this is because it will encourage us to always have a good source of searching for information and data and also confirming certain information. As we know, a library is a place where you can find data and information that have been carefully analyzed by different researchers and editors to ensure it’s accuracy and it’s not just a random place where you go to get an information from, unlike what we have in the internet today.

Yes, there are some really good and reliable sources on the internet to get information on different topics but then, it is not everyone that knows of these sites. And as we can see, everyone is on the internet these days posting whatever they like without even confirming their story and sources. And we see a lot of persons plagiarizing others work day in and day out. With libraries in place, it helps to solve most of these problems because 99% of the works you can find in the library are well sourced and reviewed.

Having libraries in place even in our digital age today, gives everyone the opportunity to explore and learn about different things whether or not they have access to the internet or they have little or no knowledge about the internet. Especially for students, the library is one of the most recommended and reliable places to go for information as regards their seminar topics and even their project topics. Taking that away will make life harder for most students who don’t have access to the internet always. And as we know, there might be problem of internet connectivity too depending on the location you are but having a physical library will definitely save the day.

Yes, the internet has everything we need but then, not everyone can easily know exactly how it works but with the library, things will be able to function better. For me, the creation and development of libraries should be encouraged. As human beings, we all have what works for us in the aspect of acquiring knowledge and it will be so unfair to completely neglect our libraries because we are now in a digital era. If we notice, there are still a lot of things to get right as regards using the internet and other digital technologies and maybe until we get these things in place, our libraries are still very much needed.

These libraries should be well funded with everything it needs to help people acquire the knowledge they go there to seek for. Library personnels should be made available to guide people how to use some of those things they might find hard to use and many other things. And like I mentioned earlier, knowledge is power and one of the best place anyone can find knowledge is at a good library and I don’t see why we should stop investing in something like that. As a matter of fact, we should be seeking for ways to encourage more persons to use the library as often as possible, not just for students but also for anyone who needs to gain knowledge on a particular topic, like business men and women.

This is my response and it’s a pleasure having you stop by. ❤️