In the twenty-first century, it is becoming less common for people to use libraries, even though last century they were incredibly popular throughout the world. Now that the internet can be easily accessed from most phones and computers, some people think that libraries are just a waste of money. This essay will argue that this is not entirely true.
The first reason why libraries are still necessary even in the age of Google is that they provide trustworthy access to reputable sources of information. Sadly, although the internet has democratised information and made it freely available throughout the world, there is still an incredible amount of misinformation and many sources that people trust are in fact very unreliable. Libraries contain many books published by respected authors and reliable editors, meaning that they should be treated with more reverence than a website that pops up on a search engine.
Secondly, even though most of the collected knowledge of humanity can be found on the internet, most people trust what they read on social media. These sorts of posts are inherently unreliable because they are shared only by people of the same political belief, and these groups amplify messages they like rather than what is in fact true. Sadly, that means that the internet is often divided into highly biased sources of information that cannot be entirely trusted. Libraries are less likely to stock such dubious material and can thus be considered better for people looking for real facts.
In conclusion, libraries may seem outdated, but perhaps they are necessary in the modern world because they can provide us with more reliable information than we would normally find online.