Little need is there to say or write about the necessity or importance of library. Almost every educated or literate person knows that library is a major source of knowledge, information, enlightenment and pleasure. It is a storehouse of books and journals and provides those for education and research. It is a place where people can access information. Library also provides archival support in some cases. Thanks to technological advances, libraries now provide both physical and digital books, journals, newspapers, magazines and many other reading materials. Users can also avail audio and video materials electronically. Many public libraries provide computers and other services such as internet access, faxing, photocopying, printing, and scanning.
Thus libraries offer free resources for education. More importantly, these are places where people can meet fellows and friends, study for exams, or even relax. Libraries thus serve as community centres for interaction among people. Libraries also promote literacy, and preserve histories. The functions of libraries are quite vast even when smartphones are available almost in every hand.
Nevertheless, a common question nowadays is whether the libraries are in slow decline, if not dying out. To some quarters, the answer is 'yes.' They strongly argue that the utility of libraries has been on the decline due to proliferation of the internet, online and digital communications systems. Anyone can search anything in 'google' instead of going to a library and browsing books there. Laptops, tablets and smartphones have significantly reduced the necessity of libraries, they further argue. Moreover, readers, especially young ones, now prefer e-books and those are accessible online.
So, the urge to collect and read printed books has also declined. Though these types of logic are valid to some extent, there are deeper reasons behind the effort to undermine or discourage the use of libraries.
In Bangladesh, education system has been distorted gradually in the name of improvement and modernisation. Students in schools, colleges and even universities are largely exam-oriented. They extensively depend on private tutors, coaching, guidebooks, notes, and short suggestions. Schools and colleges do not encourage them to go to libraries, find books and take necessary notes from the books to develop their own study. Guardians also find it a waste of time and money to visit libraries and spend some time reading just for the fun of it. Though most of the schools have libraries, those are not for students generally. Even teachers do not visit the libraries in most cases. Students of colleges and universities go to library for study. They, however, use the library space and sitting arrangement mostly. Only a small number of students do the library work by browsing different books and journals extensively as a part of their studies.
The role of library as a common place to meet and discuss contemporary issues and exchange ideas has also diminished significantly. Debate and discussion on any contemporary book is almost absent from the libraries. Many libraries regularly organised weekly or monthly discussion sessions for readers where eminent scholars, writers and poets also joined only to make the session lively. Gone are the days when a number of youths gathered around a tea-stall outside the library with the books they borrowed or going to return. Sipping on tea cups, they used to talk about the books they had read or wanted to borrow from the library. Some even would rush to library to find a reference book when debate took place. As the space for freethinking shrunk, debates are discouraged, access to free information becomes costly, libraries are also losing vibrancy.
Not that there are no users of libraries now. Many public libraries have regular visitors and most of them come to study for job-related tests. There is nothing wrong to do so although many of them do not sift through the pages and other resource materials available in the library. Children are not going to library with their parents. It may be surprising to know that many children do not visit a library ever. A work culture lacking direction has also discouraged many to go to a library. Time-consuming chaotic traffic on roads becomes another big barrier to visiting library for many. Despite their interest and urge to go and spend some time in libraries, many people are not able to do so.
Besides the government-run public libraries, a large number of community libraries are there across the county. From city to village, a good number of libraries have also been set up by individuals and communities. With the meagre financial support from the government coupled with donations and subscriptions, non-government public libraries are continuing their operations. Book-and library-lovers and well-wishers are trying to save these libraries in greater interest of society. Only a few old libraries have strong financial base and immovable assets. Unfortunately, there is no comprehensive database on libraries in the country. There is also a lack of thoughtful and effective plan to turn the libraries more useful. Allocating some funds to procure selected books and storing those books is not the sole function of libraries.
The country observes the National Library Day today (February 5) with the theme 'Smart Library, Smart Bangladesh.' A thorough stocktaking of the status of the libraries across the country is imperative to devise new plans necessary to turn the libraries into smart ones. Digitisation as part of the plans to make the libraries smart will work only when society will uphold their real worth. It can't be done in a scattered manner although the budget is not a problem. The community also needs to be sensitised about using libraries and the culture ought to be made vibrant.
