“What You Are Looking For is in the Library”
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Not only is this the title of Michiko Aoyama’s wonderful book, it is also a statement that encapsulates the role of libraries – to preserve and provide us with knowledge. Let me take you on an odyssey of the evolution of these metropolises of knowledge and culture.
Throughout history, libraries have served as repositories of ideas and discoveries of civilisations. The first ones date back to the 7th century BCE in Babylon, present-day Iraq. It held a collection of 30,000 cuneiform clay tablets, which the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal guarded like a dragon over its treasure. Valuing documents for the power and status they gave the empire rather than for the knowledge they held would become a prevalent theme in the establishment of libraries in the centuries to come.
The 3rd century saw the famous library of Alexandria established by Ptolemy III. The library is believed to have held up to 700, 000 documents, collected from Greece, Persia, Egypt, and India, to name a few. Alas, Alexandria’s avidly amassed scrolls were lost in the civil war between Cleopatra and her brother in 48 BCE. Julius Caesar, who had sided with his alleged lover, made the fatal decision of setting fire to the enemy fleet in Alexandria. The fire spread to the library and reduced the collection to ashes.
Out of the ashes, however, libraries rose all over the globe – from the Mayan and Aztec civilisations in the West to China in the East. Bayt al-Hikmah – House of Wisdom – was established in 83 CE in Baghdad and became famous in the Islamic world for its size. In Europe, documents were mainly kept in monasteries and in universities, reserved for scholars and clergy.
In the 1450s, the printing press revolutionised the dissemination of knowledge. Documents and books were now made available to the public, as they could be printed, copied, and spread freely. The Renaissance saw an upswing in both literary interest and in the demand for public knowledge hubs – libraries. It was not until the 1850s that the idea of public libraries, funded by public money and accessible to all, was finally realised after centuries of opposition. Public libraries opened around the globe, and in Gothenburg, the City Library was opened in 1861 at Vasagatan near Haga. The yellow-bricked building at Götaplatsen we know today, however, was built and inaugurated in 1967.
Modern public libraries serve as metropolises for knowledge and cultures, just as in ancient times. Here, young and old come to satisfy their thirst for knowledge and to get questions answered in a calm, quiet space, sacred to knowledge-seeking. Libraries are also meeting places for people and host plenty of free events, ranging from book and movie clubs in different languages, art workshops, author talks, and concerts to knitting sessions while someone reads aloud, something the grandma in me is yearning to join.
Some say libraries will be out-competed by AI. Certainly, we have access to a ton of resources and tools of this nature online. Nevertheless, libraries hold their ground in this world of disinformation and faulty AI-overviews, upholding the tradition of reliability. Because libraries hold actual intelligence, not artificial intelligence, in the form of librarians, such as our own April, who, with their professional knowledge, can help you find what you are looking for. Reliability will always be relevant.
On that note, I want to bring your awareness to the range of physical and digital resources you can access for free through Gothenburg’s libraries. All you need is a library card – your golden ticket – which, however, anyone can get. Behold the resources down below:
With the Libby app, you can access thousands of e-books and e-audiobooks in different languages to borrow. Perfect for bus rides and for digital annotating.
If you have difficulty reading due to a learning disorder or impaired vision, the library can grant you access to Legimus, their audiobook site, which offers more than 1,400 titles of fiction and non-fiction literature as well as course material for university students.
Cineasterna is the library’s film-streaming site, where you can borrow up to 3 films per month with your library card.
My absolute favourite is Pressreader, which lets you access newspapers and magazines in 60 different languages and from 100 countries, such as The Economist, The Wall Street Journal and El Paìs to name a few.
So, to sum it up: “What You Are Looking For is in the Library”
Writer: Ingrid
Designer: Nived
Editor: Aanya
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