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Do you enjoy read? A lot of persons don't enjoy reading, but I do. If you enjoy reading like me, your mind must have ask you this question not once, not twice but countless times, WHAT WILL PUBLIC LIBRARY LOOK LIKE IN 10 YEARS FROM NOW? Thanks to the Hive Book Club for asking this question in their community contest, you can read more about the contest HERE. Also, before I get to share my thought on this beautiful topic, my gratitude goes to Hive account@wolfofnostreet for re-blogging the original contest post, thank you.

WHAT WILL PUBLIC LIBRARY LOOK LIKE IN 10 YEARS FROM NOW? Each time I reflect on the topic, my mind always drive me to my first encounter with a public library. I know I started this post saying I enjoy reading, but it wasn't always so. Once upon a time, I see reading as stress, I was doing well academically then but without picking up my book, all I do then was listen attentively in class and write every evaluation test without actually studying. Well, I definitely was not the student topping the class, because clearly my method of learning was different, a good listener who easily understood what the teacher was saying but never interested in picking up his book to study more. But hey, with my method, I was still appearing among the first top ten students everytime. Wait, what would have happened if I had pick the book to read? 🤔🤔

Most times, I feel the universe have a funny way of shaping our path. So, how did I end up falling in love with books? 2006 I just wrote my Primary School Leaving Certificate (I still did not pick a book for that exam, once my brain understand, it remains there) and was about entering secondary school, as usual, every holiday I travel to spend it with my dad and his family. This particular holiday, my older step brother also was always at home with me, because he just finished his WAEC Examination and was preparing for JAMB and Post UTME examinations in other for him to gain admission to the university, so, the dude was always reading and I was always bored because no one to talk or play with, my other step siblings will always go to school and it will just be me and my older brother. He noticed how bored I get each time, one day, after completing everything we needed to do that morning, he told me we are going out, for a young man then, I ask a lot of questions then, and I asked him where? The library, he replied. Trust me, there is always a follow up questions 😂😂, a library? What's a library? I asked him, he smiled and looked at mini-wonder me and replied saying, it's a house filled with good books and people go there to read them, and it's always a good place to read because it is very quiet. With surprise in my face 🙄 I looked at him and ask, why will anyone want to go to such a place, first, there are so many books which sounds like boring to me already and you said it is quiet, who have fun in a quiet place? He laughed so loudly and told me, don't worry, you will like it. We got to the library early, the door was still locked, so we had to watch people play football (by the way, these folks do it every morning before the time they open the library), while watching, I asked my brother, who are we waiting for? He said, the librarian. Who is a librarian? ( That was my follow up question), and he replied saying, he is the super hero of books, his duty is to protect the books and make sure the library is always quiet. Hmmmm, I knew I was in for it that day, someone to keep me quiet, finally boredom have choose to take me away.😂😂 So, the librarian came and everyone entered the library, I was the only little man there, my big brother took me to the children's session and sit where he can see me. I walked round the children session, and that day, my attitude towards reading changed, I read so many good story books with pictures in them and I imagined myself in most of them. On our way home, I told my brother let's do it again, and we repeated the process over and over again. And today, it's a different story for me when it comes to books.

What Will Public Library Look Like in 10 years From Now? Well, a lot of persons already think digital books will take the space of hard copies, which is already happening. But I feel in 10 years time, public libraries will still exist, even though a lot of folks now embrace technology, no many persons like me still love to hold a book, feel it while enjoying it's content. I feel 10 years from now, there will be people scattered all over the world sourcing for hard copies that they will preserve for future readers. The library will become the museum of books, books collectors will source for great books and reach out to some of the finest and safe libraries out there to keep them. I don't know what my life would have look like if I had not step into that library with my brother, because it changed me. The major reason I feel library will still be here for many decades to come, is because there are so many old books that are not in digital form, you search for them online and it's no where to be found. Time will come where such books that are rare will be greatly needed and the one place to find them is definitely going to be the library. I see the world producing book collectors ten years from now, that's if they don't already exist. There is a great difference when you read from a hard copy book and when you just slide your phone screen to see the next page. I don't know about you, the sound of the pages flipping is like music to my ears, the smell of the book makes me understand how rich the content is. You feel like you connect with the author when you own a copy of the book. So, 10 years from now, I see more digital books but I see the world producing libraries that preserve quality hard copy books, books of great worth and book collectors to find these books.

Once again DO YOU ENJOY READING? Please share your thought on the topic with me in the comment section and remember you can also participate in the contest, just read more about it HERE.

Thank you for reading!