On Libraries by Oliver Sack

The autobiographic writing of the essayist presents the importance of libraries for a learner. The essayist presents his love and longing for knowledge in a library. It views library is not only a room with books but also a lively store house of knowledge that can awaken one’s perception and explores with new dimension of the world.

He stresses that knowledge should not be bound with formal education only. It should not be constrained 

with few academic parameters. A person needs to have freedom of choice. The specific hunger of knowledge could be satisfied from a library.

The essayist has library as a favorite room. In childhood he used to enter his father’s library and read the books. As his father was a Hebrew scholar, there were plenty of the books to read. The library was full of Ibsen’s plays. He would easily reach the books which were in lower case. He liked the Jungle book that he read in his childhood. His mother has also collected the books of Dickens, Trollope, and Thackeray.

Moving ahead he entered into Ur Library, Willerden Public Library on his locality. Though he disliked school, he was fond of libraries as libraries have freedom of choice. Slowly he got interested towards science. In Walker Library, he did not get the books he longed for. Needlessly, his teacher helped him to get access to the library of Science Museum and he got the book he desired for: Mellor’s Comprehensive Treatise on Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry, Gmelin’s Handbook on Inorganic Chemistry.

He got access to Radcliffe Science Library and Bodleian Library, where he got a historical book of 1602. He got the idea to write biographical writing of Theodore Hook. Entering University, he got access to Queen’s College Library, which was designed by Christopher Wren. He got several books that enlightened his idea about history 17^th and 18^th century literature he also got the insight of his language too.

He recalled his past days how he spent his days in New York in 1965. He had a very small room. He did not have enough space to write. He used to write on refrigerator. He wished he could get a spacious place. Then, he went to Albert Einstein College of Medicine as it had enough space.

He viewed library could help to get the friends of same taste though it was a silent place. People who are searching books in wardrobe can have friendship. However, he finds the changes in people preference in libraries. The modern techno based reading has devalued the libraries as students highly rely on electronic media of reading. Such changes have abandoned the importance of libraries. The books are thrown out. The librarian assured that things are digitized. Nevertheless, it destroyed the sense, smell and feelings of a person towards the book reading.