With a plethora of new technologies arising within the 21st century, there have been numerous propositions to shut down the establishment of libraries. This idea sprouted because people are now able to obtain e-books and get all the resources they need on Google. However, libraries allow for an abundance of resources and help out lower income families. These factors all plays a role in the debate on if we still need libraries.
Many useful and significant resources, which not only help the townspeople, but educators too by providing an abundance of free resources such as access to books, computers, electronics and movies across the country. This allows for people of lower income to further educate themselves when they don’t have the option of buying their own resources. On top of all the free resources the library provides, the local Smithtown Libraries all provide many free programs for people of all ages. For example, the younger kids have programs that allow them to socialize, teens have programs that allow them to earn community service credits, adults have educational classes, and senior citizens game nights, field trips and yoga to get them active. These listed activities are just a portion of what the library offers.
The Smithtown West Library accommodates many of these standards as well, such as providing reliable resources for research projects, computers for classwork and many creative stations to broaden the learning experience. The West library is also a space for people to socialize and work together.
This Monday, September 17th, the Smithtown Library did a Facebook poll on whether people prefer e-books or physical books which resulted in 79% of voters saying they prefer physical books with the remaining 21% voting on e-books. It can ultimately be confirmed that people would prefer the use of a library over an electronic book system. This also means that a large number of people still appreciate and use libraries.
This debate of the significance of library establishments started gaining significant traction and major national interest in February earlier this year when President Donald Trump proposed a cut in the funding of libraries. President Trump supports this proposition by claiming that libraries are not a core federal responsibility and claims that most libraries are privately supported. However, it should be a federal responsibility because without libraries, they are taking away a source of education for citizens. Without federal funding, many small town libraries without a lot of money will be shut down, restricting an expansion of education and creativity.
In the end, libraries are truly an essential resource and establishment in our ever growing and ever learning society. To take away libraries would be to take away valuable resources and a core aspect of our society.