Libraries are becoming a thing of the past in my county which is currently Essex. I believe in the feel and experience of a real book. E-books are great but there is something relaxing in holding and reading a book. I never appreciated them as a teenager. I feel books on self-development (soft skills) given to younger people would give them a new insight to reading and expand their interest in books. As young people, we tend to read formal educational topics and fiction. I recently attended an innovation, contribution meeting in my local community that was held by Essex council. The two questions they were tackling were;
- What does your community need?
- What role can libraries play?
- An increase of mentors/support groups to encourage and inspire young people to enjoy reading, writing and expression. Young people are focused on social media and messaging and lack social engagement and the enjoyment of simple activities. They tend to look for short cuts and this can affect their attention span, skill development, cause isolation and affect their emotional intelligence
- Libraries could play a vital role in being a learning hub, the place where young people or adults want to go to feel connected to their community, to enjoy reading, writing, expression, debate current issues that are important to them and self-development. Libraries represent research and reading. Young people are looking for social media entertainment and also how to express themselves online. Libraries could be the driver for young people to explore self-education, self exploration, and becoming an active citizen within their community
Self help books may give young people as well as adults something to look forward to when reading. It’s nice to have a variety of topics to read on. Furthermore, a Human Library held at a local library would be a great way for people to learn about human experience and listen to stories in a unique way
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