Message from a longstanding member Gauteng JOHN VAN NIEKERK LIASA MEMBERSHIP NO 75 LIBRARIES matter very simply because people need them. Some lucky individuals have the resources and skills to take care of their reading needs themselves, but many don’t and for these people libraries are indispensable. Libraries are generally community organisations, whether the community is a neighbourhood, a town, an educational institution, a research body, a business or even an entire country where people pool resources to give access to reading and information for the benefit of the community: A young child starting to explore the world, learning to read, entranced by wonders all around and needing answers to what, why and how. An older child searching for new and different reading experiences and sometimes reading in a more consciously practical way for learning. A student needing specialised information to develop specific skills for a career. An adult constantly using information at work and home or unwinding at the end of the day with a good read. An elder in the twilight of life enjoying the reading they struggled to find time for before. And countless others. Technology through the ages has helped to bring information closer to us and to more people. From early writing on clay tablets and other surfaces, the use of papyrus paper, introduction of the printing press, computers, the internet, smart phones, social media and others, there has been relentless and ever quickening progress in bringing the written and spoken word to us for acquiring and transferring knowledge and also for fun. However, people and institutions are needed to organise and make all this accessible. The library is not the only role player in this space, but it focuses its activities on the needs of a specific community and so it matters very much to that community. Librarians have been trained to evaluate the mass of reading and information available, as well as the needs of their communities, and so can match up the two. In difficult times like now, the challenge is even greater for libraries to respond to their communities with commitment and innovation. Libraries matter but how much depends on their response. On a more personal note, I remember as a young child being first enticed to a small public library by a shelf with a collection of tattered comics that I devoured before moving on to other fare and a lifetime attachment to libraries. Now, as a pensioner, I sometimes re-discover authors I first encountered ages ago and it is like connecting again with an old friend. Thanks to the library for bringing us together.
LIBRARIES matter very simply because people need them
