7 good reasons to go to the library

Posted on January 19, 2023 at 10:18 am

There are thousands of them in France, but municipal libraries – and media libraries – seem to many to be vestiges of a distant past. Small, however, they are the refuges of our rainy Saturday afternoons and make the forced exit from school every Monday morning fun. But over the years, they were unfairly considered places of forced labor on the eve of a worrying partial, before finally being abandoned. Whether university or municipal, libraries are unfortunately victims of their unpopularity. So to give them back their nobility, we give you seven good reasons to go and register for “bibli” – an old-fashioned word that, we hope, will return to the mouths of Gen Z, with saperlipopette and sacrebleu .

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1. To save money

As much to play fair, one of the first reasons is economic. If you’re the type who is easily swayed by the latest book of the moment – ​​how about Prince Harry’s memoirs – or what your colleagues recommend over the coffee machine, you also know that being a serial reader is a budget. . And the note can quickly become dizzying. Because yes, some books are expensive. Especially when the pile of books to read is piled up next to your bedside table – as fast as your clothes on your chair… It also happens that you fall into a novel that you later regret buying. In the library, your high-speed reader soul should find its happiness and your bank account, her, a little rest.

2. To consume literature intelligently

Reducing your book consumption by stopping shoplifting from bookstores and other mainstream cultural brands also has an ecological advantage. Because printing and manufacturing works have a huge impact on the environment. So it is better that the same book is consumed by many people… Joining the library in your neighborhood will have the advantage of reducing your carbon footprint. Who said reading isn’t eco-friendly?

3. To keep your shelves from cluttering up

Are your shelves so cluttered that Marie Kondo – the pope of storage – would faint? Do you leave books lying around because you don’t know where to put them? Yes, books can (often) be difficult. Without hesitation to sacrifice its seven important volumes of the “Harry Potter” saga or Joël Dicker’s latest bestseller, the municipal library is a good alternative for borrowing novels and other collections you don’t want. not necessarily keep . Our new mantra? Buy only his favorite books. And you’ll free up some space on your shelves.

4. To (re)instill a taste for reading

There are many good reasons to return to reading. At a time when screens have invaded our daily lives, books are easily neglected. After a hard day at school or work, laziness is more likely to wander through Netflix than to pick up a good book. In 2021, an Ipsos survey, conducted for the Center national du livre, revealed that French people between the ages of 15 and 24 are less fond of reading. A terrible observation that cannot be fixed. A solution? Incorporating some library time into your daily life will help instill a taste for reading from an early age. And give it back to the old people who lost it. Because while walking the aisles, the books will inevitably wake up the reader who is sleeping in you.

5. To discover books you don’t need to read

The library is to literary people what IKEA is to budding decorators: an Ali Baba’s cave for small budgets. With its maze of many shelves, it is a place that welcomes discovery because there is something for all tastes, all genres, all ages. We can be tempted by a well-documented book about the life of dragonflies, the latest Annie Ernaux – Nobel Prize for Literature –, her teenager’s favorite manga or even the detective novel that the librarian warmly recommends.

6. Read in a quiet place

When we talk about library, we think of our old college CDI run by a little lady with “shh” annoying as she used to be, with shelves full of jumbled books which smell of dust and are organized by a rating system that is complicated. as the love life of Miley Cyrus. Think again. The library is above all a bubble of silence, a padded cocoon where people whisper – like in the ASMR videos that flood your TikTok account – and where you can enjoy a good book, curled up in a pouf informed. A moment out of time that we deserve.

7. To meet people

This will probably come as a surprise to more than one, but the library is also a high socializing place. Yes, yes, you will meet people there because there are many activities organized there for children and adults: manual work, book club for debate, conferences, exchange of authors and even film screenings.. .

While those still unconvinced that the library is the pinnacle of cool, throw us the first Goncourt prize!