The Spectrum of Human Existence- Libraries.

Knowledge sets us free, art sets us free. A great library is freedom. -Ursula Guin.

Public libraries are where we witness the entirety of human existence. The youngest members create their imaginations while the oldest are constantly trying to understand the present and future. The middle aged are upskilling themselves and creating lives at the same time, having a delicate balance. I noticed a young father, who was flustered with the pram and tired, gently telling his one 3-year-old to choose a single book instead of the five he had got.

Ray Bradbury famously said that public libraries are prerequisites for democracy. Where else could you find two opposing ideas without them shouting over each other? Where else can you read others’ perspectives before forming your own? Where else can you hear different languages enveloped by silence? Public libraries are where people are continuously shaping themselves, a work in constant progress for democracy. Famous books, such as 1984 and Brave New World and even Apple’s 1984 ad revolve around censorship and dictatorship.

Lastly, public libraries are also a refuge for the ostracized in society. The nerdy kid who enjoys science and a homeless person have much more in common than we think. Both are seeking shelter from the harsh reality of the outside, building their own self inside the library.

“A library is many things,” E.B. White once wrote in a letter to the children of a little town to inspire them to fall in love with their new library. “But particularly it is a place where books live, and where you can get in touch with other people, and other thoughts, through books… Books hold most of the secrets of the world, most of the thoughts that men and women have had.”