I cannot count the number of times I have heard the comment, “Oh you’re a librarian, you must love books.” Well yes, I do like books, but to be quite honest, I probably do not like them nearly as much as some people. So when people then stare at me awkwardly when I respond, half heartedly that I do enjoy reading in my spare time, as well as doing other activities (horseback riding, listening to music, walking), I usually promptly go on to explain that I love information. I love the search for information, I love that information is what people learn from, and it is information that libraries and librarians disseminate. Therefore, information and knowledge go hand in hand.

When posed with the question, “What role do libraries play in the global world?” I think the answer is the same across the world. Libraries strive to disseminate knowledge, in hopes of enriching people’s lives. Whether the knowledge is fact or fiction, the information is housed in an incredibly large library or a small community reading room, libraries are all in it for the same reason: to provide their users with access to information of all types, and in all formats.

Libraries provide equal learning opportunities for every individual with access to a library, either physically or remotely. What better service are we providing to our population, and each other, by giving individuals the chance to learn about anything and everything? The role libraries have across the globe is to better our society by helping to create an informed and educated population. It is through information that people learn how to change the world for the better, how they learn to save people’s lives, how they learn to live healthier lifestyles, or how they learn to live ‘greener’ lives. Libraries provide an even playing field for any person, young or old, to take in information and do something positive with it.

The world is a different place depending on what continent you are on, or what country you are in. But a magical thing happens when you enter a library. It is almost as if you walk in the front doors (or walk through a curtain if that happens to be your local library), and all guards are dropped. It is a safe place, where a CEO is equal to homeless person, and both individuals have the same opportunity to learn the same piece of information.

I suppose to prevent myself from rambling about a topic I could go on for pages about, I could summarize, that the role libraries play in the global world is that libraries are equalizers. Yes, they are also disseminators of all the information and knowledge readily available, but they make this information accessible to every human being, and therefore allow for any individual to acquire knowledge. They allow anyone to learn,  in any place where a library or reading room is available. Libraries take the role of opportunity for individuals who were not born with it, or who need a second chance. As the global economy spirals out of control, and people continue on with their busy and always ‘important’ lives, I think it is important to remember the global role libraries have in people’s lives. All too often we get caught up in budget cuts, funding crises, and the likes, and we forget that what we are supplying to our society is greater than what money can buy.