Library: the graveyard of books
Gouri Priya M S
1 MA English Literature
There was a time when books were the only source of information for people. We were devoid of any technology or e-gadgets that brought information to our fingertips. If we had to know about anything new, we had to rely on a book or a newspaper. Libraries and reading societies were manifold. Books were as popular as movies. People looked up to a library as the chest of immeasurable, valuable source of knowledge. Libraries were our window to the world as they were the haven of reader’s imagination.
While the technological advancement proved to be a great bliss to the modern man, it simultaneously has wiped away our habit of hard work and deep reading. Gradually the computers, internet and now smart-phones brought the world of books to our fingertips. The beauty of the world created by Shakespeare or the picturesque narrative of Wordsworth, Shelley and Keats were framed into the mobile screens. Words of Browning and Tennyson lay dead in the virtual world of internet.
The condition of college libraries is deteriorating. Students loathe entering a library; unless teachers force them to do so. They are not interested in spending some time reading the available books. They are usually misguided by the notion that everything is available online.
Preferring a website over a book is a dangerous practice, especially for students. The materials available online are not authentic since it can be edited by anyone. It also brings down the hard work put in. Also, while writing something from the online sites, apparently, students do not even care to read at least once and interpret the meaning of the content before putting it from pen to paper.
This does not mean that technology is bad. Nothing in the world can be bad if used properly for the correct purposes. But in the case of books, technology has played the part of the heinous Joker who mercilessly has burnt down the fire within the people to read and explore the beauty of words.
A book lies dusted in the corner of the shelf, and the cries from the squeezed words within the pages still haunt my ears. The smell of a book can fill your heart with pleasure, than scrolling down through your phones. It is better to hang down your head into the depths of a book than into the screens of your phone.