Role of Libraries in Modern Society

“What actually is a library? Do we still need traditional libraries in this digital world? Will libraries go extinct?”

  The word ‘Library’ seems to be used in so many different aspects now, from the brick-and-mortar library to the Digital Library. According to Online Dictionary of Library and Information Science (ODLIS), “Library – from the Latin word ‘Liber’, meaning ‘book’. In Greek and the Roman language, the corresponding term is ‘bibliotheca’, which means ‘a collection or group of collection of books and/or other print or non-print materials organized and maintained for use (reading, consultation, study, research, etc.).’

  A library is not only a building with bunch of books and several types of materials, it also plays a vital role in supporting the educational and research activities of society, promoting culture, disseminating information, building up a value system for every individual, etc.

“Who needs a Librarian, when you have Google and Internet? well, who needs a Teacher when you have Wikipedia? just as the Wikipedia doesn’t replace the Teacher, in the same way, Google search and Internet doesn’t replace the Librarian.”

  In a library, every book or other materials of the library are meant to be used by the users or readers as well as every reader needs to find his/her own book. Without the collection of books, readers or users and library staff, the library is empty. A library offers books with no cost and a quiet place to read, which also influence and increase reading habits. A Google can find 100,000 answers or solutions of every individual’s question online but a library professionals can find you the right one in right time.

  In the Modern Age, with abundance of information, libraries assist the modern society by maintaining and disseminating the relevant information as and when required. It offers relevant and authentic information and record of knowledge created and accumulated by the past generations, because in this modern era, the information explosion has led us to confusion in choosing relevant information from the pile of information available throughout the several platforms. Libraries has an important role in the modern society as regarded as the ‘Gateway of Knowledge for the Community’. Modern Society has various needs such as education, research, cultural achievement, various types of information, etc. Society has founded various institutions to serve these needs. Among them the library occupies a prominent place, while other institutions are designed to meet one or few of the needs, the library is able to meet all of them in equal measure. The resources and services of the libraries offer and create opportunities for learning, support literacy and education and help shape the new ideas and perspectives that are essential for the creative and innovative society.

  During the Covid-19 pandemic, when countries around the world are implementing several measures to slow down the spread of the coronavirus, from national quarantines to institute closures, libraries are also severely affected like so many other institutions in the wake of growing pandemic, which led to hard choices around which services to offer and how, depending on several measures of pandemic, as school and colleges are trying to do operations online as much as they can. But, even in that harsh situation, several library associations themselves did their great job to inform their members and support them in difficult times, such as – offering online training related to both related to Covid-19 and professional development, launching campaign around misinformation about Covid-19, etc. And when cases around the world started to decrease day by day, the libraries adopted several steps or moves to reopen by limiting concentration of users, promoting hygiene, keeping users and staff safe, etc.

  In a world without libraries, it would be difficult to do advance research and preserve human knowledge or the world’s cumulative knowledge and heritage for future generations. Libraries are pillars of education and it is natural to expect that digital libraries will provide new opportunities for innovative educational practices. The demand for library services is slowly moving from print media to digital, but the relevance of libraries in the digital age lies in their ability to offer everyone access to all forms of media. Libraries offer a means by which we can gain access to knowledge. Libraries have proven in the past to be adaptable and versatile in making libraries fit with changing environments, and they’ll keep doing just that.