Last week, I visited the newly inaugurated Public Library of Hargeisa ; it was located in a beautiful environment, with the latest engineering designs. It was an amazingly quiet place for reading books. The first Public Library in Hargeisa was established in 1976, but unfortunately it was totally demolished during the civil wars in 1988. Since then, there has been no other functional Public Library. Fortunately, this time around the city has got the chance of having a modern library once again, after a vacuum for a longer period of time. I personally urge the younger generations of Somaliland to practice the habit of reading books, and regularly visit the available reading centers where they can have access to different fields of educational materials.
A library is a place where an acquisition of many books with different topics/titles is kept. It is a source of knowledge where a country’s advanced cultural development starts; it also serves as an “enlightening center” for communities.
In addition to this, library brings together people with diverse fields of specialized knowledge who could exchange their field of expertise through the process of sharing knowledge. Any person who regularly visits library is more knowledgeable and intellectual than the one who rarely visits.
With the advent of modern information technology, libraries have made a significant success in many key areas. Today, libraries in the world have rapidly transformed from the old conventional systems into what is now technically termed as an “e-library,” where you can easily browse through books by using internet, provided that you have an access card to log in.
Finally, the essence of library can be summarized into the following points:
- Library is the place where you acquire much knowledge by referring books with different titles and authors.
- It is the source of up to date information and intellectual discourse
- It is the base of further references for research related topics.
- It is the center of cultural advancement and civilization of one’s country
- It is the parameter where a nation’s development and cultural background could be easily gauged.
Abdulqadir Omer Jama
SOURCE:HORNDIPLOMAT
