Churches and Libraries Future is Bleak

 In some cities, the homeless use the library as a home.

Public libraries face another challenge besides the possibility of being extinct. It is the communities they serve. Homeless people cannot wait for some city libraries to open because it is where they can spend time, use the washroom or even take a nap.

Libraries also attract people who are on the bottle or sniff something. Sometimes they bring their fights to the library. Couples also cause chaos as they shout or fight each other in a space that calls for SILENCE.

A good example is my local city library.   A few years ago, there was no security company walking about keeping the peace. Then the municipality hired one; then they started wearing bullet proof vests; then they installed security barriers with library users opening their handbags and backpacks for security guards to insert electronic sticks that detect weapons.

I hadn’t been to the library for almost three years because the internet is now my library. I went there recently to scout for photos. I was surprised to see the security barricades, but I put my handbag on the desk like a good citizen. I picked it up and strode inside only to be stopped by a security guard who asked me to raise my arms so that he could bat me with the electronic bat.

“Am I at the airport?”

I turned my back and left, never to return. Therefore, city libraries have their hands full trying to determine the main danger.  Is it downloadable knowledge that might make libraries extinct or poverty problems that see libraries as a shelter, not a fountain of knowledge?

Nonqaba waka Msimang

Executive Blogger