The development and spread of the Internet, the availability of information for almost every user leads to a deterioration in the life of libraries. More and more often, the question arises: what are libraries for today?
Currently, libraries are experiencing a kind of crisis: very little government funding is allocated for the maintenance of the building, renewal of resources and repairs. The salary of a librarian is one of the lowest among qualified professions, therefore there is no offer among graduates in this environment. The state is extremely reluctant to support libraries and does not try to raise the general cultural level of its citizens. As a result, due to the development of the Internet and television and the low level of culture of the population, the library is gradually losing its former popularity among young people and adults.
Loss of popularity
The demand for libraries is steadily falling. They cannot keep up with the speed of dissemination of modern information and even provide a huge selection of modern publications, that is, libraries cannot buy all issues of new magazines and books. Basically, children come to the library who do not yet have a computer for free use, students who do not want to spend money on specialized literature, and representatives of the older generation who are far from computers and new technologies. In addition, at present, the library is visited not in order to find a new copy of fiction for free reading, but in order to read the works assigned at the school or institute according to the program.
Changing the role of libraries
All this forces some libraries to be on the verge of extinction. Yet some librarians and librarians are less skeptical about the future. Libraries are now expanding their boundaries of influence on the reader: they are turning into leisure centers, within the walls of which many events are held for children and adults. Libraries initiate meetings of authors with readers, hold book and children's drawing contests, motivate to creativity, introduce new trends in literature, become clubs for readers to communicate, and from an early age teach people to love books. Libraries connect different generations in a family, and sometimes replace parents in some issues: for example, they help children in learning a computer, become the first source of computer knowledge.
Many libraries are now equipped with computers with free internet, which allows them to attract new users, as well as find and print some rare works for which the libraries have no funding. Ultimately, those libraries that adapt to modern living conditions, learn to attract modern readers and be useful to them, will be able to transform their activities into modern ones, will definitely stay and continue to work successfully. After all, no Internet and the availability of information can replace the joy of human communication and the help of qualified personnel in the field of book reading.
