The main purpose of public libraries is to provide books, and they should not waste their limited resources and space on providing expensive hi-tech media such as computer software, videos and DVDs. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Public libraries are a powerhouse of knowledge and are meant for use by the general public. Modern-day public libraries

also

include all kinds of technological resources

such

as computer software, videos, DVDs, etc. Apart from books. Some people believe that public libraries should stick to their main utilitarian purpose of providing books and should shun the practice of keeping additional media resources.

This

essay will discuss why

this

notion is entirely unacceptable to the extent of being illogical and irrelevant in the present-day context. Traditional public libraries have been known as the hub of the dispensation of essential, literary as well as non-literary, sources of knowledge to the masses. Not only the educated and learned have attained enormous benefits from it, but it

also

has been a means of learning & acquiring knowledge for the uneducated ones. With the advent of modern-day computers, tablets & e-book readers, more and more people are opting for e-books, and so there has been a drastic decline in the book readers opting for the regular printed books. For the same reasons, to stay relevant to the changing trends public libraries have started keeping media resources.

For instance

, it has been estimated that the number of people opting to visit libraries for e-resources have shot from 10% in 2009 to 57% in 2019.

Such

a significant rise in user preferences and behaviour clearly highlights the need for the shift in the allocation of

library

resources, pertaining to being relevant to the majority of users. Admittedly, it is noteworthy that public libraries still find a segment of people visiting libraries only for studying and borrowing books. The option of having myriad choices of books at a considerable economical borrowing price entices many booklet readers to prefer public libraries.

Such

kinds of people may opt to prefer digital media as a priority for reading. It can be aptly illustrated by the fact that according to a survey, for an average public

library

, 70% of its revenue comes from novel borrowing services. Making book renting the cash cow and the main source of earning a stream of a public

library

. All in all, a public

library

has a wide variety of people it needs to cater to and

therefore

it should stay relevant in terms of delivering for the needs of both of them. In conclusion, the need for the nation to stop putting digital content in public libraries is highly relevant and more so will become illogical if a

library

is not able to cater to its majority of its users.