The Dearth Of Libraries In Our Time.

I might be wrong, but I do not know the last time I saw a Library that isn’t located in a school premises anywhere around town. For some reason, the only one I used to know is now closed down. Its a church now I think. I was talking to my neighbour’s teenage daughter some days ago and I asked her how she spent her long vacation. Oh! well I went to the cinema a lot, a few parties and I just hung out with my friends mostly she said. I smiled and continued on my way but inside of me I was a little sad. Maybe because I love to read, or because  I was always fascinated when my aunts told me tales of how they spent a valuable chunk of their time at the local Library during their vacation in their days, but I was sad because most of the teens in our time can’t be bothered to read a book except when they have homework and even then Google is the next best thing.

The Internet has taken over and little by little books are being eclipsed. When I was a teenager, Google was a myth. Cyber cafes were few and the computers were an enigma so when I had homework, I headed straight to the Library and pored over the textbooks till I found all that I was looking for. 

I can safely say that there isn’t a single Library in the area where I reside today! Not one, but there are clubs, and bars and numerous cyber cafes and it is quite sad because young people today are being deprived of the joy of reading actual books. Call me old fashioned but I absolutely cannot stand e-books, as a matter of fact, I love the smell of books, the older the better. Teenagers these days seem clueless, they are so involved in their social media bubbles that they have no clue what is going on around the world.

I would love to see a Library built in my neighbourhood, and many more built across the country.