I miss libraries. I know they still exist but I miss the days of going to the library if you wanted to find out stuff. Yes, it is so much easier to ask Dr Google but the old way led to interactions with other humans and often led to finding out other stuff we didn't know we needed to know. Not to mention the quiet reflective atmosphere and the sense of being among other like minded people.
If you couldn't find what you were looking for you could ask someone.
I am saddened by the number of posts I see on Facebook where someone in a group will ask a question and be told to look it up or search the files. Yes, that is a way and probably an easy way but it doesn't result in an interaction with others (even though they are faceless) and a conversation even if only a short one. Sometimes asking a question is a way of saying "hey, I want to talk to someone".
In these awful days of isolation and lockdown we need human interaction and kindness more than ever.
On the odd occasion I find myself in a bookshop, usually to by a book for my youngest niece. While I use an eBook reader for books now, it is such a pleasure to just pick up a book and flick through it. The same goes for libraries. I was in our local a few months ago to get a card to access the library's eBooks. Again, so nice to just wander around and pick up books.
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