The Importance of Public Libraries*.
*
This
post was written by a contributor *
There
are many important institutions in today’s society;
hospitals and other healthcare practices, plus court
houses and town halls. Where would we be
without those!? Those
two industries typically get plenty of shout-outs and
praise, but there’s another social institution that
arguably does just as much for the
community: libraries! While
they can be viewed, primarily, as a place where you can borrow books,
they can provide so much more. I bet you our
society would be much poorer
without these integral buildings that help to promote engagement,
both with oneself and with other people.
Libraries
provide public spaces where friends can gather in a welcoming and
warm environment. They can also foster connections between
strangers that obviously could not happen if they were both
sitting at home. One of the other ways that libraries help society
is the way they can empower individuals –
we can
get health guidance, conduct research, and find essential tools
that help us to
improve our careers or pursue higher
education.
The
good news is that libraries are valued
by most societies – in America, more people
visited public
libraries than they did cinemas in the past year, and
of course a huge percentage of the UK population
are loyal to their locals, too.
To
learn more about libraries and the integral role they play in
society, take a look at the infographic from the University of
Southern California below.
Infographic Design By University of Southern California
I love popping along to my local library as much as I can. As I work alone, just being able to take that time to work in the same space as other people who are reading, working or just moseying around is such a comfort. :-)
ReplyDelete