I HAVE been studying in Lahore for five years and visiting its major public libraries. All of these libraries are packed with students throughout the year who prepare for the various competitive exams, most notably CSS. Given the role of a public library in any society, our libraries are not utilised to their optimum level.

In any society, a library has three roles, it preserves the memory of a society; it provides the accounts of past experience and equips the readers with tools through which they can navigate in life. It is a symbol of a society’s identity.

In an ideal library, the staff and readers make a conscious effort to ensure it is a public space where people can experience what books can do in their lives, where the values of society can be questioned critically and people can know about their responsibility towards one another and towards society at large. However, the onus of making this possible lies on the librarians to a great extent.

The other day at the library I was going through an article published in The New York Times, titled ‘Reinventing the library.’ The author beautifully depicts the significance of a public library through a story about Greek historian, Diodorus Siculus, who, on a visit to one of the ancient libraries in Egypt, saw the words, ‘Clinic of Soul’ above its entrance. I am wondering whether our public libraries are ‘Clinics of Souls’? If not, perhaps, there is a need to reinvent our public libraries.

Inam Ullah Marwat

Lahore

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2015