Much has been discussed recently about the nature of public libraries and their place in a society that is increasingly reliant on computers, tablets and mobile phones for daily activity. We are now able to downlaod digital books for free from hundreds of websites, and can read them on our phones while we are out and about. There is no more need to carry around a heavy hardbacked book, or shove a battered paperback in your pocket or handbag. But I don't believe we have seen the end of real books.
Personally I adore my local library, always have done. It is the place I would find sanctuary as a child, it broadened my horizons as a teenager, it aided my studies as a university student, and now I frequent our library with my young daughter. They hold a weekly toddler and baby group where we sing nursery rhymes and read books. When we attended yesterday my daughter was far more interested in selecting books to peruse than she was in actually socializing. That's my girl!
The question has been asked recently. Will our libraries survive the digital revolution? My answer to that is most definitely yes they will. I have a Kindle. I read books in PDF format on my computer, but I am far happier curled up on the sofa or stretched out in bed with a real, solid book in my hands. Despite having a TBR list of personal books that will probably take a good 5 years to get through, yesterday I picked up yet another library book that caught my attention. It is a hard-backed novel, called
Whitby Vampyrrhic. I never heard of it before, but I spied it while I was gathering my daughter at the end of our library visit. Now I must be going. I have reading to do!
