Where have the libraries gone?

Where?

To the morgue they’re all heading, if you allow me to put it rather tragi-poetically, and in case you’ve missed all those silent obituaries swarming the media for some time now.

Ouch, that hurts. But what’s happening to them?

Sigh! Libraries, as we have known them all these years, are disappearing one by one across the globe. Estimates from watchdogs such as the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions and the Global Library Statistics show that the number of libraries has plunged from, say, about five years ago. While there were some four lakh functioning libraries in the world just about a decade ago, now the number stands alarmingly low at a little over three lakhs.

Sad news indeed. But why is this happening?

Pundits have not come to a conclusion on that yet, but there are, arguably, many reasons including the obvious (funds shortage, rise of digital books and online lending libraries) and the not-so-obvious such as the fall in the number of people who read (seriously) and the rise in incomes of emerging economies and even in the third world where the number of people who could afford to buy personal copies of books has seen a spike.

Still, it’s sad to see libraries vanish.

The feeling is mutual. In fact, there is a general consensus that one of the biggest reasons behind the fall is the way funding agencies (mainly governments) refuse to dedicate money to the betterment and replenishment of libraries. Just this week, the UK saw a big campaign, which was backed by the likes of JK Rowling, Neil Gaiman and Philip Pullman, calling for library funding to be ring-fenced.

Ah, that’s interesting. Tell me more about it.

The petition, started by a library lover (Frances Belbin) and so far signed by almost 30,000 people, says UK’s libraries are being “closed, cut back and/or outsourced” as the government cuts budgets to local bodies. According to data from Public Libraries News , a popular watchdog that tracks the decline in public libraries across the globe, this is not a trend exclusive to the UK, similar trends have been noted across the globe — from Greece to India.

India?

Yes, our libraries system has been facing serious threats of late given the cuts in social sector spending and the government’s reluctance to spend on libraries. The threat is clear and present for private lending libraries as well. Recently, the demise of the 27-year-old Eloor library (more of a bookshop) in Chennai’s T Nagar made news and brought to public attention the need to protect our book stores and reading rooms.

Yes, these places are great meeting points.

One of the biggest beneficiaries of libraries, especially public libraries, has been the poor, mainly poor children who cannot afford to buy or privately borrow books. Which is why, at times, the upper middle-class and the ‘affordable’ class would not mind seeing the library die. That explains the kind of attitude expressed in a now-deleted, controversial article that appeared on a prominent business publication just a few weeks ago which said all taxpayer-funded libraries ought to be shut down in favour of Amazon book stores.

That’s terrible!

Indeed. In fact, sociologists says it is important for the public library to survive because, to quote Public Libraries News , libraries provide an essential service for those marginalised by society — the lonely, the unemployed, those with mobility issues, even those with IT access issues. Also, a library is the place where people go when they have no place. In fact, the UK has set up a Libraries Taskforce to look into ways to help reinvigorate the public library service. India may set up a similar entity to help offer its decaying public library system begin a new chapter in its history.

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