People embrace tech gadgets, stay away from libraries

Ongole: The development of infrastructure and the availability of technology forced libraries to go away from the lives of the majority of people. The next generation of people, who are spending maximum of their time looking at smart phones, TVs, monitors and other devices, find it hard to visit a library, select a non-curriculum book and read it in the public library, or even at school.

Anangi Vijay Kumar, father of an Intermediate student at Ongole, told The Hans India that his daughter didn't go to a library in her life so far. He said that he himself spent hundreds of hours at the Central Library at Afzalgunj when he was preparing for Groups in Hyderabad. But, he asked why his daughter should go to a library now, when technology serves the purpose. He said that whenever his daughter gets a doubt about the subject, she visits YouTube and goes through the videos on the topic and learns it.

He said that his daughter has no time to read stories, novels or poetry from famous writers at libraries, as she needs to prepare for NEET with concentration. Thota Sirisha, mother of two sons studying Class I and LKG, said that her children spend most of the time at home watching videos on YouTube on Smart TV or a smart phone.

She said that they learned the alphabet, numbers, mathematics concepts, colours and simple sentences by watching educational videos, and series like Dora the Explorer, Diana and Roma, Masha and the Bear, Peppa Pig etc. She found her children watching the TV at home more helpful than sending them to libraries. She said that she knows the importance of reading books of different authors and topics, as they sharpen their creative minds, and opined that when the same service is available at home through technology in a better way, why should they go to a library now?

Kandukuri Subrahmanyam, a teacher in a Zilla Parishad High School in Ongole mandal, said that the tabs given by the government with the content from Byju's have content more than the syllabus. He said that the ideal students have no time to read other books than the syllabus, and conducting a library hour for them just like in earlier times is not possible now.

However, Dr CA Prasad, an NCERT resource person and activist promoting libraries in the schools, feels that the earlier generations had only books to expand their horizon and imagination, as they didn't have any other avocation. He said that the radio and books boosted their interest in literature and they go to the library whenever they have free time.

He felt that most of the parents or teachers themselves lost interest in libraries. He said that wherever the parents or teachers are reading books, the children are also making it a habit and using the libraries in the schools.

Prasad said that with the help of NRIs and local patrons, they have donated thousands of books to libraries in 130 schools in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. He suggested that teachers and parents read out a story from a book and encourage children to read themselves from it the next time to inculcate the habit of reading literature.