Libraries: The Cure for the Unhappy

Which are the activities that make people’s life more tolerable? What can add happiness into one’s life? We could name many various activities, like swimming and dancing, socializing and shopping, dating and listening to music. Their magical impact on one’s mood is well known to everyone. Nevertheless, there are not so many people, who know, how enjoyable is the act of going to the library! According to U.K.’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the joy one gets by going to the library equals the joy one feels when getting his salary raised by $1,878. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it?

It is not like all the book-worms and literature lovers didn’t know this before the study. There are not so many other things that can bring people the pleasure equal to the one reading brings. When a person turns around and sees endless shelves, filled with books, feelings of delight and happy disbelief overwhelm him. Where else could an individual feel happy if not in the place, where he can read whatever he wants and as much as he wants? Well, the Department’s survey proved book-lovers’ guesses to be right in a scientific way.

And only a month ago there was made a special Pew Research study, discoveries of which added even more value to the libraries. According to the results of this study, all library-goers and library-lovers are better at socializing with relatives, neighbors and friends, they show better technology knowledge than ordinary people and they also tend to form stable community ties. So, libraries do not just make people happy, they also make positive influence on their lifestyle, as well as views and manners.

Unfortunately, despite the results of many surveys and studies that prove just how valuable and important the libraries are for education, social and cultural development (and that is not to mention the factor of happiness), the U.K. government doesn’t care about it. During the last year, more than 493 libraries were closed or faced the possibility of closure because of the significant budget cuts and unreasonable policies. By the way, the situation in U.S. doesn’t really differ – the number of public libraries also decreases dangerously during the last several years. Still, thanks to volunteer help and enthusiasm of book-lovers, most public libraries manage to survive even when facing economic problems.

And there is nothing to wonder about it. Libraries provide people with a possibility of self-education and make education itself simpler. They bring us aesthetic pleasure and allow those, who have not enough money to buy themselves as many books as they wish, to read everything they want for free. We can only hope that special surveys and studies will draw attention towards harsh situation with libraries’ economic conditions – and that it will help libraries to be preserved in a proper manner.