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# In Praise of ... LIBRARIES!
- URL: https://english-with-catherine.ghost.io/in-praise-of-libraries/
- Published: 2026-09-25T12:08:31.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-25T12:08:31.000Z
- Author: Catherine Angus

*(🔎 As you read, notice that anything in *bold* is something I'm encouraging you to explore independently: either a phrase, a word, or a collocation.)*

You’d **be hard-pressed** to hear me **disparage** a library or librarian. Both the physical space of a library and the people who work in them are, more often than not, simply wonderful.

For me, libraries are perhaps one of the greatest public institutions ever imagined. In the USA, we have Benjamin Franklin and Andrew Carnegie to thank **for getting the ball rolling** on this institution back in the 1700s and 1800s. In Canada, there was no single person responsible for their creation**,** but libraries have been built and publicly funded (through taxation) since the 1880s. I like thinking of how my tax dollars support libraries; it makes me smile.

Do you have public libraries where you live? Do you use them? 

I’m a regular user of my library, and have been for decades. Different libraries, of course, because I’ve moved cities several times, and I’ve also worked in libraries, teaching English. 

I like them very much. Walking into a library is **akin to** walking into a bookstore for me: zero anxiety, just **eager anticipation** of what I might find. But with a library, the goods (and services) are available to all at no cost, no fee, and as we're witnessing a rapid decline in the number of people reading in far too many countries, I’m all **in favour of** easy access to books!

These days, libraries are actually much more than just places where we go to borrow books. **Anecdotally**, I see parents and caregivers at my library playing games or attending story hour; kids and teens getting tutoring from older teens or adult volunteers; newcomers to Canada taking ESL conversation classes; and many adults getting help with professional development courses or job skills training. My library has social groups such as book clubs, creative writing groups, knitting circles, and more. My experiences are **substantiated,** that is, supported by real evidence and trusted research. I’ll link to an article that outlines the essential role libraries play in lifelong education, cultural exchanges, economic and social development, and simply a safe space in a world where few non-transactional places exist. All that in addition to the library’s central role in granting access to information and knowledge, both of which are **key ingredients** to a thriving democratic society protected by **robust** access to information laws. Of what other institution can we say that? 

And that brings me to today’s episode of ***Worth a Listen***, in which I offer a book recommendation. The book is titled “[**What You Are Looking For Is in the Library**.](https://guardianbookshop.com/what-you-are-looking-for-is-in-the-library-9781804994139/?ref=english-with-catherine.ghost.io)” It’s set in modern-day Japan, and without telling you more, it's filled with characters all transformed by a visit to a library. Is it a perfect book? A literary tour-de-force? No, but I hope it will make you smile, warm your heart, and prompt you to appreciate libraries. I think it’s worth it!

🎧 Listen to my recommendation in the short audio [**right here**](https://www.englishwithcatherine.com/worth-a-listen?ref=english-with-catherine.ghost.io)**.**

✍️[**Transcript**](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TVopJSTohiKw92VuUHHK4xIeCCSfD1M24IgYCJnhJoA/copy?ref=english-with-catherine.ghost.io)(which contains a link to a YouTube video you might want to watch.)

[The Complicated Role of the Modern Public Library | National Endowment for the Humanities](https://www.neh.gov/article/complicated-role-modern-public-library?ref=english-with-catherine.ghost.io)

Tata for now. I'm off to the library,

Catherine 👋