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The Essay Library

The Essay Library Anthology Vol. 7: Adaptation

The Essay Library is a Discord server for video essay creators and viewers to chat about all things video essays. It's also the official server of r/videoessay. ▶ Click here to join The Essay Library on Discord. ▶ Links: The Essay Library YouTube Channel Beginner's Guide to Discord (from Discord Support) r/videoessay subreddit ▶ Accolades: The Exquisite Relay: An Essay Library Co-Construction was praised as a "fascinating experiment in essay structure" in " The best video essays of 2022 " (Sight and Sound). The Essay Library Anthology Vols. 2 + 3 received a special mention from the curators of " The best video essays of 2021 " (Sight and Sound). ▶ The Essay Library Anthology Compilations of 60-second micro-essays around a given theme. Volume 1 | "Beginnings" (2021) Volume 2 | "Time" (2021) Volume 3 | "Death" (2021) Volume 4 | "We Asked A Bot To Name 18 Video Essays" (2022) Volume 5 | "Secrets" (2023) Volume 6 | "Becoming Someone Else" (2023) Volume 7 | "Adaptation" ▶ Other Collaborations These Video Essays Do Not Exist - created for April Fools' Day 2024. Essayists were asked to respond to the prompt "things that don't exist," and interpretations ranged from fan theories, lost media, myths, to pure fiction using the form of a video essay. "When Essay Met Library: A Rom-Com Collaboration" - creating video essays based on each other's romantic comedy film recommendations. "The Exquisite Relay: An Essay Library Co-Construction" - a videographic twist on the exquisite corpse featuring two video essays made one minute at a time. The first video was made forward, the second backward. Each creator had four days to do their part before passing it on to the next person. Mentioned in Sight and Sound . "Tales from the Essay Library: Horror" - eight video essayists created work based on each other's horror movie recommendations. This essay chain had a time constraint of 5 minutes per essay. ▶ The best way to get in touch with the Essay Library moderation team is by joining the Discord server , but you can also contact us using the form below.

Every week, one member of the server is chosen at random to choose a video essay for others to watch. In doing this, we can learn how to improve our own videos. With its wide range of selections, this has prompted us to interrogate what defines a video essay. Are all of these works even video essays? The #essay-of-the-week channel is home to these discussions. Essays are chosen by different members in order to get a diversity of ideas. The videos below do not necessarily reflect the views of the mod team.

Taskmaster: A Masterpiece Of Existentialist Philosophy: Sartre, Kierkegaard, Camus & Horne Hermit Banana Monster

The Complex Problems with Mental Illness in Fiction Hello Future Me

Control, Anatomy, and the Legacy of the Haunted House Jacob Geller

Dead Doesn't Mean Gone - A Haunting of Bly Manor Video Essay Ladyknightthebrave

What Makes a Video Game Sublime? Kant's Philosophy in Video Games Gamedenker

Liminal Spaces (Exploring an Altered Reality) Solar Sands

Monsters University and Disability The Sin Squad

Scambaiting and the Robot of Global Capitalism Big Joel

In Praise of Chairs Every Frame a Painting

Why Generation 5 isn't as Bad as People Think NateWantsToBattle

Overthinking It: Calvin & Hobbes | Separating Consumption From Identity RomanBear Productions

How To Be Creative: How an Artist Turns Pro Storytellers

Hayao Miyazaki - How Animation Comes To Life kaptainkristian

Inextinguishable Fire Harun Farocki

Ocean Waves - Studio Ghibli's (Accidental) Queer Film eliquorice

Sonic Adventure 2 - A Postmodern Analysis Jonas Čeika - CCK Philosophy

Sofia Coppola: The Politics of Pretty Broey Deschanel

What Makes Satisfying Videos Satisfying? Capitalism. Jordan Schonig

This Movie Offends You? Good. Foundation for Economic Education

Monster Men: The Bureau Curio

The History of Tomorrowland 1955 Defunctland

My Mulholland Jessica McGoff

No Face is an Incel CJ The X

What to Do If You Run Out of Hope Pursuit of Wonder

The Essay Library Anthology Vol. 7

The Essay Library is putting together another collaborative video essay project! Each volume of the Essay Library Anthology is a collection of 60-second micro-essays based on a shared theme. Our previous prompts were Beginnings , Time , Death , bot-generated titles , Secrets , and Becoming Someone Else . For Vol. 7, the theme is "adaptation" . Whatever that means is up to you. For this project, anyone can participate, even those who have never made a video essay before. It's also great for seasoned video essayists looking to break up their routine and try something new. Submissions are open now until Sunday, June 2 at 11:59 PM EDT. See below for more information and FAQ. While working on your submission, we encourage you to discuss the project with other participants in the The Essay Library Discord .

Prompt: Adaptation (all interpretations welcome) Constraint: 60 seconds (55-65 second range allowed) Deadline: June 2, 2024 at 11:59 PM EDT. Submit here. Share ideas here (optional). Join The Essay Library on Discord.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nope! Just submit your video by the deadline. As long as it follows all the guidelines on this page, it will be included.

Video essays should be submitted here . We'll need two things from you:

• A .mp4 file of your video via Google Drive, Dropbox, WeTransfer, etc. Remember to edit the permissions so anyone with the link can access and download it. This goes in the final compilation, so leave out any channel branding.
• A YouTube link to your video on your own channel. Keep it unlisted until the launch day. This goes in the playlist and can include channel branding.*

* "Channel branding" refers to YouTube intros/logos, end screens, Patreon/ko-fi promotions, and anything else that is not part of the essay itself. You can put your name/username in the video if you'd like, but this will already be written on the title card before your video.

Submissions are due June 2, 2024 at 11:59 PM EDT. The essays will then be edited together and Vol. 7 will be published shortly after (a week or so later).

All participants will be credited with a title card before their segment appears in the final compilation AND in the video's description with their name and a channel link. Each segment will be marked using YouTube's "chapter" feature so that the creator can be easily located.

No. You can keep your part unlisted after launch. We just need to be able to make a playlist of everyone’s videos, so please do not set it to private.

We welcome submissions from non-YouTubers! If you cannot/do not want to make a YouTube account, we can upload your micro-essay to The Essay Library YouTube channel as an unlisted video.

Please be sure to indicate this on your submission form instead of providing a link. Your submission still has to follow all the guidelines regarding suitability for YouTube publication.

You can use this spreadsheet to list your name and your intended topic, as well as take a look at what other people are doing for their topics. Doing this is not mandatory, but can help avoid direct repeats.

• Your submission should be appropriate for YouTube publication. It should not trigger any Content ID/copyright claims. Please avoid any NSFW images/content that would result in the video being blocked.
• Voiceover narration is not required.
• Essays with sped-up voiceovers will not be accepted.
• All languages are welcome, but please provide English subtitles if your submission is not in English.
• Your submission should stand on its own. It should be produced specifically for this collaboration -- don’t submit a clip from an existing video essay.

Yes! You can even do a horizontal submission for the big compilation and a vertical version for your own channel. In the past, we’ve had a mix of formats.

We would like you to do your best to keep your submission around 60 seconds. We will allow a range of 5 seconds shorter or longer (55-65 seconds).

While the body of your essay should remain the same in both versions, you can add channel branding that exceeds 60 seconds for the version on your own YouTube channel. Leave this out of the .mp4 submission.

Some examples of channel branding include adding an outro/end-screen, inserting graphics that encourage viewers to subscribe to your channel, or listing the names of your Patreon supporters.

Feel free to create your entry in any dimensions or framerate you desire. The final compilation will be 1080p/60fps, and submissions will be upscaled/downscaled to fit those dimensions. Aspect ratios will be preserved.

These Video Essays Do Not Exist

The Essay Library is hosting a collaborative project for April Fools' Day where participants are invited to create video essays based on subject matter that does not exist . Submissions should be kept to five minutes or less. Submissions are open now until March 23, 2024 by 11:59 PM ET. Keep reading for more details about how this all works.

Prompt: Video essays about subject matter that does not exist (open interpretation) Constraint: 5 minutes maximum (no minimum) Deadline: March 23, 2024 by 11:59 PM ET. Click here to submit. Click here to share ideas (optional). Click here to join The Essay Library on Discord.

What does the prompt mean?

The full prompt, which was submitted and voted on by Discord members, is “video essays but made up (the subject matter does not exist).” You can interpret this however you’d like. It’s intentionally open-ended; the goal is to collect as many perspectives and approaches as possible. Potential topics include:

Lost media.

What the next season of a canceled TV show would look like.

Work(s) published under a pseudonym.

How a certain work of art (film, song, etc) would be different if another artist made it.

100% fiction: for example, make up a fake country and discuss its history.

Do I have to sign up?

Nope! Just submit your video by the deadline. As long as it follows all the rules/guidelines outlined below, it will be included. If you would like to chat with other participants, you can join The Essay Library Discord server with this invite link .

How do I submit my video essay?

Video essays should be submitted here . We'll need two things from you:

A .mp4 file of your video via Google Drive, Dropbox, WeTransfer, etc. (remember to edit the permissions so anyone with the link can access and download it) – this goes in the final compilation, so leave out any channel branding.

A YouTube link to your video on your own channel (keep it unlisted until the launch day) – this goes in the playlist and can include channel branding.

Both of these must be done. ”Channel branding” refers to YouTube intros/logos, end screens, Patreon/ko-fi promotions, and anything else that is not part of the essay itself.

When is my entry due?

Submissions are due March 23, 2024 by 11:59 PM ET. The essays will then be edited together and the full collab will be posted on April Fools' Day (April 1 2024).

Do I have to make the video on my own channel public?

No, you can keep your part unlisted after launch. We just need to be able to make a playlist of everyone’s videos, so please do not set it to private.

What if I don't have a YouTube channel?

We welcome submissions from non-YouTubers! If you cannot/do not want to make a YouTube account, we can upload your submission to The Essay Library YouTube channel as an unlisted video. Please be sure to indicate this on your submission form instead of providing a link. Your submission still has to follow all the guidelines regarding suitability for YouTube publication (basically, don't trigger copyright strikes on our channel).

Who will post the final compilation?

The big compilation featuring every essay in one video will be posted on The Essay Library YouTube channel .

How do I know what topics other people are doing for their submissions?

You can use this spreadsheet to list your name and your intended topic, as well as take a look at what other people are doing for their topics. Doing this is not mandatory, but can perhaps help prevent repetition.

Are there any rules for what I can and cannot include in my video essay?

Your submission should be appropriate for YouTube publication. It should not trigger any Content ID/copyright claims. Please avoid any NSFW images/content that would result in the video being blocked.

Voiceover narration is not required.

Essays with sped-up voiceovers will not be accepted.

All languages are welcome, but please provide English subtitles if your submission is not in English.

Your submission should stand on its own. It should be produced specifically for this collaboration -- don’t submit a clip from an existing video essay.

How firm is the time limit on my submission?

There is a firm 5 minute maximum video length. There is no minimum length. While the body of your essay should remain the same in both versions, you can add channel branding that exceeds 5 minutes for the version on your own YouTube channel. An example of channel branding is adding a logo at the start or listing the names of your Patreon supporters at the end.

What specifications should I make my entry to?

Feel free to create your entry in any dimension or framerate you desire. The final compilation will be 1080p/60fps, and submissions will be upscaled/downscaled to fit those dimensions. Aspect ratios will be preserved.

Will I be credited?

All participants will be credited in a title card before their segment appears in the final compilation and in the video's description with their name and a channel link. Each segment will be delineated using YouTube's "chapter" feature so that the creator can be easily located.

That's it! If you have any other questions, you can discuss the project in the The Essay Library Discord .

Essay on Library and Its Uses for Students and Children

500 words essay on library and its uses.

A library is a place where books and sources of information are stored. They make it easier for people to get access to them for various purposes. Libraries are very helpful and economical too. They include books, magazines, newspapers, DVDs, manuscripts and more. In other words, they are an all-encompassing source of information.

A public library is open to everyone for fulfilling the need for information. They are run by the government, schools , colleges, and universities. The members of the society or community can visit these libraries to enhance their knowledge and complete their research.

Importance of Libraries

Libraries play a vital role in providing people with reliable content. They encourage and promote the process of learning and grasping knowledge. The book worms can get loads of books to read from and enhance their knowledge. Moreover, the variety is so wide-ranging that one mostly gets what they are looking for.

Furthermore, they help the people to get their hands on great educational material which they might not find otherwise in the market. When we read more, our social skills and academic performance improves.

Most importantly, libraries are a great platform for making progress. When we get homework in class, the libraries help us with the reference material. This, in turn, progresses our learning capabilities and knowledge. It is also helpful in our overall development.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Uses of Library

A library is a very useful platform that brings together people willing to learn. It helps us in learning and expanding our knowledge. We develop our reading habits from a library and satisfy our thirst and curiosity for knowledge. This helps in the personal growth of a person and development.

Similarly, libraries provide authentic and reliable sources of information for researchers. They are able to complete their papers and carry out their studies using the material present in a library. Furthermore, libraries are a great place for studying alone or even in groups, without any disturbance.

Moreover, libraries also help in increasing our concentration levels. As it is a place that requires pin drop silence, a person can study or read in silence. It makes us focus on our studies more efficiently. Libraries also broaden our thinking and make us more open to modern thinking.

Most importantly, libraries are very economical. The people who cannot afford to buy new books and can simply borrow books from a library. This helps them in saving a lot of money and getting information for free.

In short, libraries are a great place to gain knowledge. They serve each person differently. They are a great source of learning and promoting the progress of knowledge. One can enjoy their free time in libraries by reading and researching. As the world has become digitized, it is now easier to browse through a library and get what you are looking for. Libraries also provide employment opportunities to people with fair pay and incredible working conditions.

Thus, libraries help all, the ones visiting it and the ones employed there. We must not give up on libraries due to the digital age. Nothing can ever replace the authenticity and reliability one gets from a library.

FAQs on Library and Its Uses

Q.1 Why are libraries important?

A.1 Libraries help in the overall development of a person. They provide us with educational material and help enhance our knowledge.

Q.2 State some uses of the library.

A.2 A library is a great platform which helps us in various things. We get the reference material for our homework. Research scholars get reliable content for their papers. They increase our concentration levels as we read there in peace.

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School Education /

Essay on Library: 100, 200 and 250 Words

Updated on
Apr 24, 2024

A Library is a place where students and people interested in reading books visit very often. It constitutes several collections of books of variable genres to please the reader. The library is the in-person source of information. It is an easily accessible place for students and raiders. Every school and college has a library with multiple books. Besides that, it is economical for the students. This article will provide an essay on library for students and children studying in schools. Enjoy Reading.

Table of Contents

1 Sample Essay on Library
2 100 Words Essay on Library
3 200-250 Words Essay on Library
4 Short Essay on Library

Sample Essay on Library

The library is an important place for the community. It includes books, newspapers, magazines, manuscripts, DVDs, and more such informational sources. It plays a significant role in the kid’s learning phase. Despite the advancement in technology , the library still plays a critical role in everyone’s life. One can borrow books from the library. There are two types of libraries one is a private library that is controlled by the school and college authorities, whereas the other is a public library that is open to all.

100 Words Essay on Library

A library is a place where books belonging to different subjects and genres are stored. My school also has a very big library next to the computer lab. Our timetable is designed in such as format that we could visit the library twice a week and explore books apart from our syllabus. This practice of visiting and exploring books in the library induces a habit of reading in all the students.

My school library has autobiographies, picture books, comics, novels, fictional books, books on culture, art, and craft, and many other materials. Students can borrow the desirable book to read for one week and then, on a specific date we need to return that book to the school library. Thus, the library teaches us the value and importance of books and inculcates the habit of reading and imparting knowledge.

200-250 Words Essay on Library

The library is the place where people come together to learn and gain knowledge. Books are arranged on large bookshelves. Books belonging to similar genres are arranged on the same shelf by the librarian. The librarian is in charge of the library.

Some libraries have digital software to keep track of books issued and received to and from the library. Owing to technological advances, books are nowadays available on online platforms. Readers can read the book on apps like Kindle. But still, the library has its role, it is easily accessible plus it will provide a trustworthy source of information.

Good raiders prefer books to read in their physical form as they cherish the quality of pages, type of writing , and the authenticity of book covers. Thus, the library plays an important role in the student’s as well as adults’ life.

Every school allots specific hours for students to visit and read books from the library so that they can induce reading habits from childhood itself. Students also refer to books from the library to complete their assignments or summer vacation homework.

There are set rules and regulations of the library. Generally, we are not allowed to talk so that readers won’t get distracted and lose their pace of reading. Besides that, if any book issued from the library gets misplaced, damaged, or lost from the borrower then, he/she has to pay a fine to the librarian.

Thus, the library is an excellent resource for books that spread knowledge and information along with entertainment .

Also Read: One Nation One Election Essay in 500 Words

Short Essay on Library

Also Read: Speech on President of India for School Students in English

A. The library plays a critical part in every individual starting from the school itself. It helps in developing the overall personality because reading books and gaining knowledge help people to make a good career.

A. Include points like what is a library, why books are important, and the importance of a library in the life of students and children. Divide your essay into three parts introduction, body, and conclusion. End the concluding paragraph on a positive note.

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Kajal Thareja

Hi, I am Kajal, a pharmacy graduate, currently pursuing management and is an experienced content writer. I have 2-years of writing experience in Ed-tech (digital marketing) company. I am passionate towards writing blogs and am on the path of discovering true potential professionally in the field of content marketing. I am engaged in writing creative content for students which is simple yet creative and engaging and leaves an impact on the reader's mind.

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The Beginner's Guide to Writing an Essay | Steps & Examples

An academic essay is a focused piece of writing that develops an idea or argument using evidence, analysis, and interpretation.

There are many types of essays you might write as a student. The content and length of an essay depends on your level, subject of study, and course requirements. However, most essays at university level are argumentative — they aim to persuade the reader of a particular position or perspective on a topic.

The essay writing process consists of three main stages:

Preparation: Decide on your topic, do your research, and create an essay outline.
Writing : Set out your argument in the introduction, develop it with evidence in the main body, and wrap it up with a conclusion.
Revision: Check your essay on the content, organization, grammar, spelling, and formatting of your essay.

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Essay writing process, preparation for writing an essay, writing the introduction, writing the main body, writing the conclusion, essay checklist, lecture slides, frequently asked questions about writing an essay.

The writing process of preparation, writing, and revisions applies to every essay or paper, but the time and effort spent on each stage depends on the type of essay .

For example, if you’ve been assigned a five-paragraph expository essay for a high school class, you’ll probably spend the most time on the writing stage; for a college-level argumentative essay , on the other hand, you’ll need to spend more time researching your topic and developing an original argument before you start writing.

1. Preparation	2. Writing	3. Revision
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Before you start writing, you should make sure you have a clear idea of what you want to say and how you’re going to say it. There are a few key steps you can follow to make sure you’re prepared:

Understand your assignment: What is the goal of this essay? What is the length and deadline of the assignment? Is there anything you need to clarify with your teacher or professor?
Define a topic: If you’re allowed to choose your own topic , try to pick something that you already know a bit about and that will hold your interest.
Do your research: Read primary and secondary sources and take notes to help you work out your position and angle on the topic. You’ll use these as evidence for your points.
Come up with a thesis: The thesis is the central point or argument that you want to make. A clear thesis is essential for a focused essay—you should keep referring back to it as you write.
Create an outline: Map out the rough structure of your essay in an outline . This makes it easier to start writing and keeps you on track as you go.

Once you’ve got a clear idea of what you want to discuss, in what order, and what evidence you’ll use, you’re ready to start writing.

The introduction sets the tone for your essay. It should grab the reader’s interest and inform them of what to expect. The introduction generally comprises 10–20% of the text.

1. Hook your reader

The first sentence of the introduction should pique your reader’s interest and curiosity. This sentence is sometimes called the hook. It might be an intriguing question, a surprising fact, or a bold statement emphasizing the relevance of the topic.

Let’s say we’re writing an essay about the development of Braille (the raised-dot reading and writing system used by visually impaired people). Our hook can make a strong statement about the topic:

The invention of Braille was a major turning point in the history of disability.

2. Provide background on your topic

Next, it’s important to give context that will help your reader understand your argument. This might involve providing background information, giving an overview of important academic work or debates on the topic, and explaining difficult terms. Don’t provide too much detail in the introduction—you can elaborate in the body of your essay.

3. Present the thesis statement

Next, you should formulate your thesis statement— the central argument you’re going to make. The thesis statement provides focus and signals your position on the topic. It is usually one or two sentences long. The thesis statement for our essay on Braille could look like this:

As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness.

4. Map the structure

In longer essays, you can end the introduction by briefly describing what will be covered in each part of the essay. This guides the reader through your structure and gives a preview of how your argument will develop.

The invention of Braille marked a major turning point in the history of disability. The writing system of raised dots used by blind and visually impaired people was developed by Louis Braille in nineteenth-century France. In a society that did not value disabled people in general, blindness was particularly stigmatized, and lack of access to reading and writing was a significant barrier to social participation. The idea of tactile reading was not entirely new, but existing methods based on sighted systems were difficult to learn and use. As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness. This essay begins by discussing the situation of blind people in nineteenth-century Europe. It then describes the invention of Braille and the gradual process of its acceptance within blind education. Subsequently, it explores the wide-ranging effects of this invention on blind people’s social and cultural lives.

Write your essay introduction

The body of your essay is where you make arguments supporting your thesis, provide evidence, and develop your ideas. Its purpose is to present, interpret, and analyze the information and sources you have gathered to support your argument.

Length of the body text

The length of the body depends on the type of essay. On average, the body comprises 60–80% of your essay. For a high school essay, this could be just three paragraphs, but for a graduate school essay of 6,000 words, the body could take up 8–10 pages.

Paragraph structure

To give your essay a clear structure , it is important to organize it into paragraphs . Each paragraph should be centered around one main point or idea.

That idea is introduced in a topic sentence . The topic sentence should generally lead on from the previous paragraph and introduce the point to be made in this paragraph. Transition words can be used to create clear connections between sentences.

After the topic sentence, present evidence such as data, examples, or quotes from relevant sources. Be sure to interpret and explain the evidence, and show how it helps develop your overall argument.

Lack of access to reading and writing put blind people at a serious disadvantage in nineteenth-century society. Text was one of the primary methods through which people engaged with culture, communicated with others, and accessed information; without a well-developed reading system that did not rely on sight, blind people were excluded from social participation (Weygand, 2009). While disabled people in general suffered from discrimination, blindness was widely viewed as the worst disability, and it was commonly believed that blind people were incapable of pursuing a profession or improving themselves through culture (Weygand, 2009). This demonstrates the importance of reading and writing to social status at the time: without access to text, it was considered impossible to fully participate in society. Blind people were excluded from the sighted world, but also entirely dependent on sighted people for information and education.

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The conclusion is the final paragraph of an essay. It should generally take up no more than 10–15% of the text . A strong essay conclusion :

Returns to your thesis
Ties together your main points
Shows why your argument matters

A great conclusion should finish with a memorable or impactful sentence that leaves the reader with a strong final impression.

What not to include in a conclusion

To make your essay’s conclusion as strong as possible, there are a few things you should avoid. The most common mistakes are:

Including new arguments or evidence
Undermining your arguments (e.g. “This is just one approach of many”)
Using concluding phrases like “To sum up…” or “In conclusion…”

Braille paved the way for dramatic cultural changes in the way blind people were treated and the opportunities available to them. Louis Braille’s innovation was to reimagine existing reading systems from a blind perspective, and the success of this invention required sighted teachers to adapt to their students’ reality instead of the other way around. In this sense, Braille helped drive broader social changes in the status of blindness. New accessibility tools provide practical advantages to those who need them, but they can also change the perspectives and attitudes of those who do not.

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Checklist: Essay

My essay follows the requirements of the assignment (topic and length ).

My introduction sparks the reader’s interest and provides any necessary background information on the topic.

My introduction contains a thesis statement that states the focus and position of the essay.

I use paragraphs to structure the essay.

I use topic sentences to introduce each paragraph.

Each paragraph has a single focus and a clear connection to the thesis statement.

I make clear transitions between paragraphs and ideas.

My conclusion doesn’t just repeat my points, but draws connections between arguments.

I don’t introduce new arguments or evidence in the conclusion.

I have given an in-text citation for every quote or piece of information I got from another source.

I have included a reference page at the end of my essay, listing full details of all my sources.

My citations and references are correctly formatted according to the required citation style .

My essay has an interesting and informative title.

I have followed all formatting guidelines (e.g. font, page numbers, line spacing).

Your essay meets all the most important requirements. Our editors can give it a final check to help you submit with confidence.

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An essay is a focused piece of writing that explains, argues, describes, or narrates.

In high school, you may have to write many different types of essays to develop your writing skills.

Academic essays at college level are usually argumentative : you develop a clear thesis about your topic and make a case for your position using evidence, analysis and interpretation.

The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement , a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas.

The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas.

Your essay introduction should include three main things, in this order:

An opening hook to catch the reader’s attention.
Relevant background information that the reader needs to know.
A thesis statement that presents your main point or argument.

The length of each part depends on the length and complexity of your essay .

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:

It gives your writing direction and focus.
It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.

Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.

A topic sentence is a sentence that expresses the main point of a paragraph . Everything else in the paragraph should relate to the topic sentence.

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

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Tips on essay planning and writing

What is an essay, brainstorm your topic by creating a mind map, check you understand what your essay question is asking you, academic writing style, signposting, building an argument and summarising other people's ideas, what is paraphrasing, essay structure, useful links.

Traditional academic essays are pieces of writing which are designed to demonstrate the following points:

that you understand a particular subject
that you have undertaken some kind of research
that you can produce a clear and coherent argument

This means that you have to combine important ideas, examples, and interpretations from other writers with your own. All of these have to be put together in a linear, written format (making one point, then moving on to the next), which persuades the reader that your line of argument is a convincing one.

Note : There may be variations in the approach you need to take depending on the discipline you are studying. Check with your tutor/department for discipline specific guidelines.

When you choose, or are assigned, an essay question, you are asked to focus on something very specific. It's not just a case of writing down everything you know about the subject. An essay question instructs you to do something with the knowledge you have, and to put it into a certain context, which will allow you to demonstrate the range of your critical thinking.

Essay questions therefore have instructional verbs to determine what your approach should be. These are words such as: discuss, analyse, argue, compare, review, evaluate, examine, outline, illustrate .... These tell you how to answer the question and what your essay should do. It is important that you understand exactly what these words mean so that you don’t misinterpret a question.

For more examples check 'Terms that may be used in essays or examinations'

You will usually be expected to write using academic language and specialist vocabulary from your subject area. Academic writing normally contains these features:

Formal writing in an impersonal or objective style and often takes the 'passive' voice. Passive constructions can be used to avoid using 'I' in essays, e.g. 'It can be argued...'
Vocabulary appropriate for particular academic contexts is used which may include technical and specialist words.
Contains references to other writers’ publications which are used to support the arguments in the text
You may notice that cautious language is frequently used in reporting research and making claims. 'Cautious language' indicates reservations or tentativeness about the conclusions that may be drawn from the evidence presented. Useful phrases are: 'it may be concluded', and 'we can assume'.

Major Signposting

Major signposting is used to signal the introduction of key sections or aspects of the work. These might include the aim, purpose, or structure.

In the introduction:

This essay will…
The aim of this essay is to…
The major issue being discussed is…
This essay will define and describe…
This essay will critically examine…
This essay will first define…then discuss…before making recommendations for…
This essay is organised in the following way;

In the conclusion:

To conclude,
In conclusion,
To summarise,
It is evident that

Minor Signposting

Minor signposting are linking words and phrases that make connections for your reader and move them through the text.

They may be as simple as: First, second, third, next, then, last, lastly, finally
To offer a counterpoint: However, although, though, yet, alternatively, nevertheless
To indicate an example: For example, notably, for instance, in this case

Linking words and phrases help give your writing more fluidity. Linking words and phrases will help the flow of your academic writing.

Linking words are particularly useful for use in comparing and contrasting ideas and to move from one idea to another.

Check these resources for examples of linking words and phrases:

Examples of linking words and phrases (University of Reading via Future Learn)
Transitional devices (Purdue University)
Signposting (Queen's University Belfast)

Source: Academic Writing Skills by Patricia Williamson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

Illustrations vector created by stories - www.freepik.com

Often the clearest way to combine different points of view and to show that you have understood those points of view is to summarise them. Each summary of a different viewpoint can include direct and indirect quotations of key points, plus your understanding of what they mean and a comment on the weaknesses and strengths of the idea or viewpoint. Having described, interpreted and analysed other people's ideas, you can then go on to describe your own point of view and explain why you have chosen it.

Writing which ignores any of the parts described above, can become unbalanced. For example, if there are none of your own ideas, the piece becomes a review of everyone else's work. In these circumstances you could be accused of being uncritical. If the writing does not refer to other people's ideas (directly or indirectly), there is a problem of being too personal and non-academic (this partly depends on your subject). Neither of these would be persuasive arguments.

Paraphrasing is expressing someone else’s writing in your own choice of words, while keeping the same essential meaning. As Pears and Shields (2019, p. 15) explain, it is ‘an alternative way of referring to an author’s ideas or arguments without using direct quotations from their text’.

Paraphrasing is generally more highly valued by academics than direct quoting because it allows you to demonstrate a greater understanding of your source and helps you to maintain your personal writing style and the smooth flow of your essay.

Don’t forget to include in-text citations (author and date) in the text of your assignment and full references at the end of your assignment every time you paraphrase someone else’s words or ideas.

First, here is the original extract, taken from the book, by Peter Worsley:

Here's what two students wrote in their dissertations:
Karl Marx, the inspiration for revolutionary activity in many countries, has probably affected the course of 20C history more than almost any other thinker. Because of this, his ideas have generated a vast output of writings, ranging from books written about revolution - how to demolish capitalism and create a new socialist society - to books dedicated to proving that Marx was wrong about practically everything. Reference: Worsley, P. (2002) . 2nd edn. London: Routledge.
Worsley (2002) suggests that Karl Marx has had a significant impact on the course of twentieth-century history. He argues that Marx's ideas have led to a great deal of writing, across a spectrum from promoting his call for revolution to trying to show he was wrong in his analysis and predictions. Reference: Worsley, P. (2002) . 2nd edn. London: Routledge.

Paraphrasing - an overview A guide on paraphrasing, academic writing, citing and referencing
Introduction
The main body
Bibliography

The introduction is the official start of the essay and it usually includes some or all of the following:

a statement introducing the topic
an explanation of why it is important
a brief mention of work on the same topic written by other writers
a gap or problem in previous related work which will be solved or answered in this essay
an outline of the structure of the essay
definitions of key terms
an anecdote or vignette (short story) which highlights the main point of the essay

The body is the largest part of your writing and this is where you guide your reader through your main ideas and arguments. These ideas and arguments come from your brainstorming and research. It is therefore a mixture of other people’s ideas and your own. These points should be organised into a logical order which allows your reader to follow your train of thought.

The balance of discussion between your own ideas and information and those from external sources is crucial to the development of your argument. Without this balance, the writing can become either a summary of other people's ideas and theories, or a description of your personal ideas and experiences with no evidence of research. Both of these would lack analysis, a core component of a good essay. It is therefore vitally important to ensure that a mixture of positions are presented.

Each main point will be described, supported and analysed using examples from your own experiences, and information and theories from external sources (books, journals, websites, lectures, etc.). The main points should be clearly organised by using paragraphs.

In short pieces of writing (< 3,000 words), there will be groups of paragraphs which together form one part of your argument. Usually these sections in "short" essays do not have specific headings. However, they can be clearly identified by using linking phrases which show for example:

how many elements the section consists of:

There are four main reasons why ...

the connection of additional points:

Another important point to consider is ... A further issue of importance is ... Moving on the the issue of ...

or the introduction of a contrasting point:

On the other hand, ... In contrast to the above, ... An alternative understanding of the issue is ...

Longer pieces of writing and dissertations

In long pieces of writing (> 3,000 words) it is sometimes useful to identify clear sections by using sub-headings. Each section (or chapter of a dissertation or thesis) with a sub-heading is like a short essay which could stand alone. The sub-headings may come from your brainstorm and/or your research. However, the best order for the sections in long essays may only become clear after you have started writing them. When the best order becomes clear, chapter introductions and conclusions can be written in each section.

A short chapter introduction should briefly outline the contents of each section and where possible, should also refer back to the sections before and explain how they are related. Similarly, each section needs a conclusion. This should summarise what has been written in this part and should again make connections to other sections. In particular, it should describe the relationship between this part and the next. These are crucial in order to tell the reader what each part is about and how it fits with the other sections. It is like tying knots between separate pieces of string in order to make a single, stronger cord: your argument.

The conclusion is the closing part of the essay and, like the i ntroduction, connects the body of the essay to the title. However, whereas the introduction often starts generally, becomes more focussed and often includes an outline of the main points; the conclusion attempts to summarise the main ideas and arguments, then leads to a final statement.

It should not include new ideas which have not been mentioned before, although you can join ideas you have mentioned in a new way. You may also want to restate questions which you could not answer in your essay, but which you think deserve further study. As the final part of the essay, the conclusion is the last thing which the reader sees. Therefore, it should tie together the different points you have made.

Conclusions often include the following elements:

language 'markers' showing that this is the conclusion (e.g. to conclude, in summary, this essay has given an account of...)
a summary of the ideas in the main body
a comment about the limitations of the scope of the essay / study
a glance to the future: a prediction, recommendations for action, suggestions for further research, implications for future policy

A bibliography (or reference list) comes after the conclusion (or appendices and final figures) and includes all the information about the sources you have mentioned in the essay. For more information on referencing please see the Write it Right guide.

Academic Writing Basics (Author: Megan Robertson)
Academic Writing Essays in English (© 2021 UEfAP)
Academic Writing Handbook
OWL Purdue Online Writing Lab
The Writing Process by English Language Studies group at the MIT Understanding and using the information on this site should make writing not only less anxiety-provoking and more efficient and effective for you, but ultimately it should also help you feel more creative and more satisfied with the products of your writing efforts and learn more in your classes as well.
Last Updated: Apr 11, 2024 10:13 AM
URL: https://lit.libguides.com/tips-writing-essays

The Library, Technological University of the Shannon: Midwest

Essay on Library

Students are often asked to write an essay on Library in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Library

Introduction to libraries.

Libraries are places filled with knowledge. They house books, magazines, newspapers, and digital media, providing a space for people to learn and explore.

Importance of Libraries

Libraries play a crucial role in education. They nurture curiosity, foster learning, and encourage reading habits. They’re a treasure trove of information.

Types of Libraries

There are many types of libraries. Public libraries serve communities, while academic libraries are part of schools or universities. Special libraries focus on specific subjects.

Libraries are essential for learning and growth. They’re a haven for knowledge seekers, fostering a love for reading and exploration.

250 Words Essay on Library

Introduction.

Libraries, the repositories of knowledge, have been the cornerstone of human civilization, fostering learning, innovation, and cultural enrichment. They have evolved over centuries to adapt to the changing needs of society, yet their core function remains the same: to democratize access to information.

The Role of Libraries in Society

Libraries play a pivotal role in society, serving as community centers where individuals can gather to explore, interact, and imagine. They provide access to a vast array of resources, both physical and digital, that cater to diverse learning styles and interests. Libraries also contribute to social cohesion, offering a safe and inclusive space for people of all backgrounds.

Libraries and Education

In the educational realm, libraries are indispensable. They support academic achievement by providing students with the tools to conduct research, deepen their understanding, and cultivate critical thinking skills. Libraries also foster lifelong learning, encouraging curiosity and intellectual growth beyond formal education.

The Digital Transformation of Libraries

The advent of the digital age has transformed libraries, expanding their reach and capabilities. Digital libraries provide remote access to a wealth of resources, facilitating self-paced learning and research. Moreover, they exhibit the potential to democratize education, breaking down geographical and socio-economic barriers to information.

In conclusion, libraries, whether physical or digital, are vital institutions that uphold the principles of knowledge, learning, and community. As they continue to evolve with societal needs and technological advancements, their enduring relevance is a testament to their inherent value.

500 Words Essay on Library

The significance of libraries.

Libraries have been an integral part of human civilization, serving as repositories of knowledge, culture, and history. They are more than mere collections of books; they are social institutions that foster learning, stimulate intellectual growth, and facilitate community engagement.

Libraries as Knowledge Repositories

Libraries play a crucial role in preserving and disseminating knowledge. They house a vast array of resources, from books and manuscripts to digital media, providing access to a wealth of information spanning various disciplines. This vastness of knowledge stimulates intellectual curiosity, encourages independent learning, and fosters an informed society.

The Role of Libraries in Education

Libraries are vital to the educational process, serving as learning hubs for students and educators alike. They provide access to academic resources, assist with research, and offer a conducive environment for study and contemplation. Libraries also promote literacy and lifelong learning, providing resources for self-directed education beyond the confines of formal schooling.

Libraries and Community Engagement

Libraries often serve as community centers, offering a space for individuals to connect, share ideas, and engage in cultural activities. They host events, workshops, and discussions that encourage community participation and foster social cohesion. In this way, libraries contribute to the social and cultural vitality of a community.

Libraries in the Digital Age

The future of libraries.

The future of libraries lies in their ability to adapt and innovate in response to societal changes. Libraries must continue to evolve, embracing new technologies and adapting their services to meet the changing needs of their patrons. They must also remain committed to their core mission: to provide access to information, foster learning, and serve as community hubs.

In conclusion, libraries are vital institutions that contribute significantly to individual and societal development. They are repositories of knowledge, catalysts for learning, facilitators of community engagement, and champions of digital literacy. As they navigate the challenges of the digital age, libraries must remain steadfast in their commitment to serving their communities, ensuring access to information, and promoting lifelong learning.

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Essays on Library

Librarians as valuable liaisons able to provide specialist field knowledge for students, how software can help support the changing role of academic librarians, made-to-order essay as fast as you need it.

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The Library of Alexandria - One of The Wonders of Ancient Egypt

The influence of ceilings on the user’s experience of the british library, london, the ict based library and information resources: a case study, a report on library management system, let us write you an essay from scratch.

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A Narrative of My Work Experiences and Community Service at The Brown County Public Library System

Undeniable importance of library in modern society, importance of library as a repository of human history, the future of libraries: equity, inclusion, & well-being, get a personalized essay in under 3 hours.

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The Scholarly Impact of Libraries on Students

Digital evolution: libraries and students, challenges and opportunities for 21st-century libraries, harnessing the power of libraries for cultural diversity, relevant topics.

Physical Education
Critical Thinking
Studying Abroad
Stem Education
Importance of Education
College Experience
Academic Challenges
School Uniform
High School
Academic Interests

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COMP 1011: The College Research Essay (Christiansen) Summer 2024 1011 Recommended Library Sources/Databases for Issue-related Topics

Librarians Info

The following databases are useful for finding and developing topics about controversial issues. In addition to providing overviews of topics, they include lists of related sources from different perspectives for further research. Most sources are available in full text.

CQ Researcher (1923-present) This link opens in a new window Includes in-depth reporting on today’s issues. The most updated issues are featured on the main page of the source.
Opposing Viewpoints in Context This link opens in a new window Contains a variety of content, including viewpoint essays, journal, magazine, and newspaper articles, video, websites, reference works, and statistical sources about controversial issues.
Points of View Reference Source This link opens in a new window Includes multiple perspectives on controversial issues. Information comes from TV and radio transcripts, primary documents, and many other sources.

Library Exercise

Find Opposing Viewpoints by clicking on the Databases link on the library website. Find Opposing Viewpoints in the alphabetical list and read the description of the database. Click on the link to the database and note the features of the home page. Note the Issues of Interest , Browse Issues (boxed categorical listings and Browse Issues link), the Search Box, and the link to the Advanced Search.

If you know your topic for the argumentative paper , look for information by browsing through the issues listed. If your topic is not covered by an issue, enter your search terms in the search box at the top left of the screen to find information embedded in entries about other issues.

If you do not know your topic , use the listed issues to seek a topic of interest.

Your topic:

Note the availability of information sources about your topic. Find one source that looks useful for your research assignment, and give the bibliographic information, for example, author, title, date, etc., needed for a citation to the source. Be sure to copy the necessary information to find and cite the source.

Source of information:

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Last Updated: Jul 19, 2024 1:38 PM
URL: https://libguides.oneonta.edu/c.php?g=1412202

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Library and It's Uses Essay

Essay on Library and It's Uses

The essay on the Library and its uses has been prepared by our teachers at Vedantu to help you guide with your essay on uses of the library. These are drafted in a very easy and effective way to make you understand and reciprocate the same in the essay writing an exam or in any of the competitions based on essay writing. We also have provided you with a PDF for downloading this essay.

The library is the heart and soul of the education system. The library spreads knowledge and has many uses. The place where there are different types of books and that can be studied independently in the Library. There are many categories of the library depending on its usage. Some libraries are private, some are public while some are government one. Poor people, especially poor students who can’t afford to buy a book, can make great use of the library. They can borrow books from the library for acquiring knowledge. School and libraries are the two temples for the worship of the Goddess Saraswati.

Libraries play an important role in providing mysterious knowledge. It leads us from the darkness of ignorance to the light of knowledge. As humans need moderate and balanced diets for their physical strength, learning became essential for mental strength similarly. Being in touch with the libraries will help the human from lust and temptation. Moreover, Libraries are the leading means of sharing knowledge than any other media. Great thinkers like Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar had set up his own libraries.

Libraries are too awesome! Good reading and study habits can be established in the students through libraries as use of libraries helps to enhance the classroom experience. The library is frequently used for some research or in public issues. Libraries are essential in learning and acquiring progressive knowledge purposes. Libraries even help to learn a sense of responsibilities. The mistakes made in the past could be avoided in future, once learned from the history books.

The concentration power is tremendously raised with the assistance of the library. It has all forms of possible solutions to academic difficulties. The scoring in academics is improved when the student starts being in touch with the references books. The libraries also consist of the newspapers and articles to provide the events happening in the surrounding. Furthermore, We may find a person with the same kind of interest in the libraries which helps us in building the social network. In addition to the above, the new generation might be sad to hear but not everything is available on the internet. The Internet may sometimes have many mistakes that couldn't be realized. The Internet complies the libraries but fails to replace it. It's been also quoted that the greatest gift a child can receive from their parents is a book.

In this 21st century, in the age of televisions, computers and the internet, people have started forgetting the essence of the library. The contribution of the government in the modernization of the libraries is being seen. They provide digital libraries and the necessary facilities at many places across. Modern libraries offer much more than the imagination for their visitors like CDs, DVDs and even the E-books are also made available. Most of the libraries are now setting their free WIFI services for allowing the candidates to enjoy the free internet surfing purpose. Many modern libraries are now offered online guest lectures and seminars on interesting topics by great philosophers.

FAQs on Library and It's Uses Essay

1. What are the uses of the library to students?

Students use libraries to enhance their classroom experiences. Libraries assist the students to improve good reading and learning habits. Public administrators use libraries for research and civic issues. The libraries provide information and assistance that are necessary for learning and progress. Libraries are very effective and economical too. They include books, journals, newspapers, DVDs, documents, scripts and more.

2. What is the importance of the library in our life?

Libraries play a very healthy role throughout our life. Libraries provide the students with a very healthy environment for learning as well as making notes or completing an assignment. Library provides a very peaceful, calm and disciplined atmosphere which aids learners to maintain a good concentration on their subjects. Libraries attract people to read and promote a practice of reading and learning. It improves their thirst for learning and expands knowledge. The library is also essential for any kind of research on different subjects.

3. What are the 4 types of the library?

According to the mode of services rendered to the readers; libraries are broadly divided into four types:

Academic Library - Academic libraries include the school library, college library and university library.

Special Library - These are special types of libraries which serves only a particular group of people like employees of a form of the government department or research organization or the staff.

Public Library - These are also called as circulating libraries. These libraries are public-funded such as tax money and it will be operated by the civil servants.

National Library - These libraries are established by the specific government of the country.

4. What are the advantages of the library?

The main advantage of the libraries is easy and (should be) free access to thousands of books. Access to educational sources that can be used for school purposes. A safe, warm and comforting environment that you can go to quietly read, do homework, etc.

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Essay On Library

Library means a house of books. But its true meaning is the centre of precious knowledge. It's a treasure trove of new and old ideas and insights. People who come here not only spend their time, but also expand their wealth of knowledge.People spend their whole day in library to gain knowledge in different subjects to enhance their skills. Here are a few sample essays on the topic “Library”.

100 Words Essay On Library

Our college has a really big library. There are over 10,000 books. I regularly read in the library. This place is the quietest and calmest place in the college. I feel really good when I'm there. There are two librarians who manage all the data. You can issue any book home. The library is constantly catalogued by trained staff. They are catalogued to meet community needs. Since the catalogue is also entered and saved on the computer, searching becomes easy.

You must become a member for a small annual fee to issues books and use the computer for educational purposes.There are many different kinds of books in the library.I read mostly science and history books. I am a big book lover and love reading these books at the library.I love to check out new books which come in our library every month.

200 Words Essay on Library

A library is a storehouse of books. It offers a variety of sources to read on the premises or borrow to take home.Library's collection includes books, manuscripts, journals, magazines and videos, audio, DVD, and various other formats of information. A wide variety of books are stored in the library and arranged in order on the bookshelves. You can't have that many books at home as you can have in a library. You can access various genres of books and other resources in a library. Libraries also eliminates the need to purchase expensive books and resources. Without libraries, many students who love to read would have been deprived of reading.

Importance Of Libraries | A library is a building filled with piles of books and resources. Modern libraries are also made up of electronic resources. Libraries provide a wealth of knowledge, resources, space and environment to discover and learn about the world of books, or just read for fun. Libraries have countless benefits as they play a key role in helping people by providing access to information, knowledge and entertainment resources. Libraries are an important part of educational institutions such as schools, colleges and universities. Such libraries are open to students of the institute to which they belong. As such, it contains a wide range of resources that are important to students. Libraries attract students to read new books and novels. They increase your thirst for reading and broaden your knowledge. Libraries are also essential for all types of research on various subjects. Libraries are therefore important for research, information, knowledge and the enjoyment of reading.

500 Words Essay on Library

Libraries are treasure troves of knowledge. A well-stocked library is an asset to any school, college, university, or neighbourhood. A library is a place where not only books but also magazines and newspapers are available.

Purpose Of Library

A school library is a place within a school where students, teachers, and other staff can access books and other resources. The purpose of the school library is therefore to provide all members of the school with equal access to books, resources and information technology. Throughout history, libraries have played an important role in imparting knowledge.They facilitate the social, educational and cultural growth of students. A school library differs from other public and private libraries in that its primary purpose is to support and enhance the school curriculum. School libraries support student learning and helps with the student academic performance.Teachers and students need library resources and services to enhance their knowledge. School libraries support both teachers and students and are essential to the teaching and learning process.

My First Library Experience

If you want a quiet place to work, the library is a great place. I like going to the library because it enhances my existing knowledge and the books there interest me a lot. A walk to the library clears my head and allows me to see things more clearly. In addition to this, there are many books there that are accessible to the public and can be issued home. Libraries make for a great quiet workplace.

I like reading about physics so I always start browsing from the physics section first. A library is the place where I can read peacefully and research on a particular topic. Most of the time I prefer to study in the library because it’s peaceful and less crowded. I like reading fictional novels and engineering books and the library near my place is stocked with all the books that I need.

Importance Of School Libraries

School libraries provide quality fiction and non-fiction books that encourage more reading for enjoyment. They also contribute to our intellectual, artistic, cultural and social development.The atmosphere of the school library invites you to study undisturbed and make the most of your time.This makes it easier for us to learn faster and understand better.

It provides teachers with access to professional development, relevant information, and reference materials for planning and implementing effective study programmes. School libraries provide education and entertainment to students, professionals, and other members of the school. No matter what your financial situation is, you can come here and have free access to books that will inform you and change you for the better.

The use of the school/university and research library is limited to that particular school. Although restricted to college students only, state and local libraries are open to all, and anyone can use these libraries during working hours. It is no exaggeration to say that a library is a place where books of all kinds and subjects are kept under one roof.

Need For Libraries

It is important to get into the habit of going to the library regularly. School libraries are the place where we can study a lot of things.Library is the place where students learn new things. Libraries provide each student with easy access to essential resources and learning materials for a smooth learning process. It plays an important role in student’s life. Education and libraries cannot exist in isolation, they are two sides of the same coin. Libraries are an integral part of the education system.

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Academic Librarian

On libraries, rhetoric, poetry, history, & moral philosophy, the library and the research essay.

I’ve been wanting to write about the Citation Project , a recent study about first-year research essays that found, in the words of Inside Higher Education , “research papers written in first-year composition courses at 15 colleges … simply copy chunks of text from the sources they cite without truly grasping the underlying argument, quality or context.” Barbara Fister responded already to this in not one , but two posts arguing that the first year research paper should be abandoned. That bothered me, because lately every time I want to write about something, I find that Barbara has already written about it and said more or less what I would have said, but better. I’m not sure that the research paper should be abandoned unless unlikely reforms come about, but maybe we should change our expectations of what it’s supposed to do. It seems to me there’s two components to this argument. The first is to determine what we mean by research, because that’s a shifty term in academia. The second is to ask what research has to do with the first-year research essay. If the goal of the first year research essay assignment is to teach students how to understand, evaluate, and integrate sources into their writing, then it might be a good idea to remove the library research component from the traditional assignment.

Let’s begin with some definitions of research from the OED:

2. a. Systematic investigation or inquiry aimed at contributing to knowledge of a theory, topic, etc., by careful consideration, observation, or study of a subject. In later use also: original critical or scientific investigation carried out under the auspices of an academic or other institution. b. Investigation undertaken in order to obtain material for a book, article, thesis, etc.; an instance of this. c. The product of systematic investigation, presented in written (esp. published) form.

2a is the definition of research that most fits for the sciences and social sciences. In this sense, research involves investigating some object or set of objects–stars, rocks, mice, humans–asking questions, conducting experiments, forming and testing hypotheses, etc. Then, the results of this research are reported, which gives us definition 2c. In Wayne Booth et al.’s The Craft of Research , we get a similar definition. For them, research is gathering information to answer a question that solves a problem, and the solution to that problem is to be reported in written form.

The humanities work a little differently. In an article about humanities research practices, Rebecca Green* (quoting Stephen Stoan**), notes that a book or article in the sciences “reports the results of one’s research,” but in the humanities it “is the results of one’s research.” There is no separate research that one writes up afterwards. There may be an object of study, but the way in which it is studied differs from the sciences. Consider an essay on Hamlet . It might contain an analysis of the text and an interpretation of the meaning of the play, but literary scholars rarely study Hamlet the way a biologist would study a mouse. In the humanities, the product of research is part of the process of research, and without the written form there would be nothing at all. Something like definition 2b is a step in this process, but it’s not the entirety of the research. A scientific experiment can theoretically be replicated, but an interpretation of Hamlet can only be repeated.

This leaves us with disparate definitions even for the work of the professionals, those professors employed by colleges and universities and expected to do “research.” Biologists, economists, historians, literary scholars, and philosophers are all supposedly doing “research,” but the processes and results couldn’t be more different. Research, in the broadest sense, could just mean “whatever those professors in research universities do,” whether it’s studying planets or interpreting poems. Research can be broadened to include analysis, argument, and interpretation, three of the key features of work in the humanities. Some people make the more dubious distinction between “research” and “opinion,” as in everything that doesn’t involve some study of objects in a distanced and quantitative way is mere opinion. I’ve encountered this strange attitude many times in librarianship. Recently an article I wrote that is clearly an example of applied ethics was called an “opinion” article, as if there’s no difference between opinion on the one hand and analysis and argument on the other. While I interpret this as an ignorance scholarly genres, the more generous interpretation would be that I write for librarians but outside conventional library science genres. Regardless of my inadequacies as an LIS researcher, it should be clear that we have different working definitions of research that depend upon the discipline of the researcher. The key requirement for them all is that they supposedly make some new contribution to knowledge, no matter how small.

How does this relate to whatever it is students are supposed to be doing for the first-year research essay that so many of them are assigned? I suggest not much. The most applicable of the definitions offered above is 2b, investigation to obtain material for an article. Rarely, as far as I know, do first-year students writing a research essay for a composition class do research in the scientific sense, that is, actually study first hand the object of investigation. They don’t use labs, and seldom conduct surveys or do field work or anything that might count as original research in the sciences or social sciences. Occasionally they do, but this is atypical. Thus, most of the “research” they do involves gathering material about a subject through library searches, Internet searches, footnote chasing, professor recommendations and the like. For the most part, the best chance of writing a research essay they have is following a humanities model where their analysis, interpretation, and argument are themselves part of the product of research. Otherwise, given the time constraints and the limited knowledge of their subject, most essays would be merely reporting the research of others. If indeed students are merely cutting and pasting from sources without understanding what they’re reading, then maybe that’s what most students are doing anyway.

If we think of the research essay as a report of the results of research, then our typical approach to research and the research essay is disconnected from the method of a lot of the essays themselves. Librarians are most helpful at the gathering sources stage of research, and it’s easy to treat that as the research, and the essay as reporting the results of that research. However, the gathering of sources is research only in the broadest sense; it’s not research at all in the sense understood in the sciences, and only the first and easiest step in the sense understood in the humanities, and, because most writing instructors are trained in the humanities, of most research essays assigned to first-year students. Typically, for the research essay, students are supposed to write using sources and have a thesis and an argument. They need not only to find and evaluate their sources, but integrate them into an essay and also have something original to say about them. They have to make an arguable claim about some topic using their sources in some way, and they have a lot of trouble.

So when students are writing that first research essay, they’re trying to learn severa l skills simultaneously, crammed into a few weeks’ time. They must learn to find appropriate sources, understand and evaluate them, and integrate them into a coherent essay making an arguable claim that is related to but not supplied by the sources themselves, and they typically have 3-4 weeks to do this about topics they likely never encountered before, and almost certainly have never studied in any academic way. And they have to do all this while undertaking no research in the scientific sense, and without the broad and deep contextual knowledge necessary for scholars in the humanities. Considering all this, it’s no wonder the average research essay is mediocre by scholarly standards, and why so many students gravitate to the same lame topics, and use the Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center instead of a regular index, as discussed by these librarians . It’s also no wonder that so many of them apparently don’t understand what they’re reading very well.

On top of this, consider who teaches most writing courses and how: graduate students who are and should be concerned with their own studies and dissertations or adjuncts teaching several courses a semester for relatively low pay and no benefits. This is because at a large number of universities writing instruction isn’t taken seriously. It’s easy to tell this about the institution you work for. If your institution has brand new graduate students from various disciplines with a week’s training teaching first year writing courses on their own, then that institution doesn’t take writing instruction seriously. Everyone pays lip service to how important writing is and how much students need to learn how, but when a large university with an inadequate budget is shepherding thousands of students through first year writing courses, then quality and care start to suffer. Writing is often taught under near factory conditions, and when an overworked grad student or adjunct is facing a stack of forty or fifty or a hundred student research papers, how could anyone really expect the best possible instruction and feedback.

Given this reality, it might seem like I’m making a case against assigning research essays to first year students. After all, they’re not really writing research essays, but merely “research” essays at best. The gathering of sources is fitful and minimal; there’s no mastery of any subject or contribution to knowledge; often enough there’s little in the way of originality or good argument. So what’s the point? The point is, they have to start somewhere, even if the result is merely a replica of a research essay. That is, unless things change. But things aren’t going to change.

If there is to be reform, I do agree with Barbara in a sense. I see a case for eliminating the research paper in the sense librarians understand it. The Citation Project isn’t about library research. It’s about writing from sources. Maybe it would be better if the library research part were removed completely from first year composition classes. One problem with using the research essay to teach about evaluating them and writing from sources is that it’s usually the one essay where the instructor hasn’t read all of the sources. You can’t evaluate how well students have understood and integrated sources into their essays without having some familiarity with the sources themselves. Writing instructors could eliminate the library research portion of the research essay, give students 15-20 sources about a given topic with which the instructors are intimately familiar, and then tell the students to use at least a set number of those sources to write an argumentative essay. Except for the source gathering part of the paper, this would include all of the higher order “information literacy” skills, and would allow instructors to better evaluate the use and understanding of sources.

By separating the source-gathering from those first research essays, and not expecting freshmen to learn how to use libraries and find sources when they’re still not able to write academic essays using sources, instructors would have more time to help students evaluate the sources they do have. That separation could mean separate courses in library research or more focus on helping upper-level students. That support would be best working systematically with all the students in a department to teach them research skills in a discipline. It could also mean creating separate Information Literacy Across the Curriculum programs (though that wouldn’t be my name of choice!), perhaps aligned at later stages with Writing Across the Curriculum programs. Neither type of program seems to have achieved wide and lasting success, and I’m skeptical about ever getting widespread support in higher education for either type of initiative, but that would indeed be better than what most students get now. Or there could be a two semester writing sequence like some places have, with any library involvement coming in the second semester.

Even creating a mediocre first research essay in the way commonly assigned requires learning the basics of a lot of skills. Finding a topic, understanding that interesting topics are necessarily contested topics, navigating a library, rudimentary database and Internet searching, crafting a thesis, dealing with arguments and counterarguments, all the while learning enough about a new topic in a short time. Having steered a few hundred students through this process over the years, it’s not surprising at all that they don’t read and understand and integrate their sources perfectly. It’s a wonder to me how many manage to come out with ten reasonably coherent pages that have some relation to their thesis. And yet, they have to start somewhere. Scholars don’t spring fully formed from the head of Zeus. Maybe it’s too much. Maybe first year writing courses should focus on writing and evaluating sources, and postpone library research instruction until students have more mastery of academic writing.

*Green, Rebecca, “Locating Sources in Humanities Scholarship: The Efficacy of following Bibliographic References.” The Library Quarterly 70: 2 (2000): 201-229. 204.

**Stoan, Stephen K. “Research and Information Retrieval among Academic Researchers: Implications for Library Instruction.” Library Trends 39 (Winter 1991): 238-58.

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Friday essay: why libraries can and must change

Associate Professor in Media, University of Notre Dame Australia

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Camilla Nelson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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There is a chapter towards the end of Stuart Kells’s The Library: A Catalogue of Wonders , in which the author envisions the library of the future as one in which “dreary hordes of students” stare mindlessly at “computers and reading machines”, ignorant of the more refined pleasures of paper and ink, vellum and leather.

This – the death of the book – is a familiar lament recounted by bibliophiles everywhere; a tragic epic in which the Goliath of technology slays the David of art and culture.

It may be superficially appealing to some. And yet, it misses the reality that writing itself is also a technology. Along with the wheel and the lever, it is one of the greatest technologies ever invented. The history of writing predates the invention of the book. It parallels and is a part of the history of other technological forms.

The history of the library is replete with mechanical marvels.

Take, for example, the book wheel , the scholar’s technology of the 16th century, an ingenious mechanical device operated by foot or hand controls, allowing a reader to move backwards and forwards across editions and volumes, referencing many different books as quickly possible.

Closer to our own century, there’s the Book Railways of the Boston Public Library installed in 1895, with tracks laid around every level of the stack to transport books. Or the ultra-modern teletype machine and conveyor belt used to convey book requests by the Free Library of Philadelphia in 1927. Or the current book retrieval system used at the University of Chicago, which boasts a system of robotic cranes .

Unlike Kells, I think there is a fabulous quality to the dream of an infinite library that can assemble itself in bits and bytes wherever a reader calls it into being. It sits well with the democratic dream of mass literacy.

It may well take an archaeologist – working a thousand years from now – a lifetime to unlock the data in our already defunct floppy discs and CD Roms. Then again, it took several hundred years of patient work before Jean-François Champollion deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphs in 1822, and even longer for Henry Rawlinson to unlock the secrets of the cuneiform scripts of ancient Mesopotamia.

Of course, Kells’s new book is not a history of reading or writing. It is a history of books as artefacts. It tells of books of doubtful or impeccable provenance, discovered in lost libraries or inaccessible private collections, purloined by book thieves, or crazed and nefarious book collectors, or at the behest of rich or royal patrons. It is a narrative – albeit with an unfortunate, cobbled together quality – brimming with strange anecdotes about a small handful of books owned by a small handful of people; lost books yielding strange surprises, from discarded condoms to misplaced dental appointment slips.

Kells’s favoured haunts are the chained libraries of medieval monks, and the bawdy or scandalous collections of wealthy 18th century patrons. The library of St Gall , for example, which houses one of the largest medieval collections in the world. Or the Bodleian at Oxford, which was never intended to be an inclusive collection, but rather, as its founder Thomas Bodley put it, sought to exclude “almanackes, plaies, and an infinit number” of other “unworthy matters” which he designated “baggage bookes” and “riff-raffe”.

I am a great lover of books. I have been lucky enough to while away the hours in libraries from Beijing to St Petersburg, Belgrade and Buenos Aires. But in an age of economic disparity and privatised public services – of pay walls, firewalls and proprietary media platforms, not to mention Google and Amazon – it is difficult to feel convinced by this bibliophile’s nostalgic reveries.

Embodying an idea of society

More than 20 years ago, when I was living in New York, eking out a living as a copyeditor and more often as a waitress, I became a regular at the 42nd Street Library (also known as the New York Public Library), on Fifth Avenue between 40th and 42nd Streets, a few blocks from the apartment that I shared in Midtown.

It was not just the size of the collection that drew me in – the 120 kilometres of bookshelves housing one of the largest collections in the world – or the ornate ceilings of the main reading room, which ran the length of a city block, with 42 oak tables for 636 readers, the bookish dimness interrupted by the quiet glow of reading lamps. I was fascinated by the library’s pneumatic system .

This labyrinthine contraption, which had been state-of-the-art around the dawn of the 20th century, sent call slips flying up and around through brass tubes descending deep underground – down seven stories of steel-reinforced book stacks where the book was found, then sent up on an oval shaped conveyor belt to arrive in the reading room.

The pneumatic system – with its air of retro, steampunk or defunct book technology – seemed to intimate the dream of a future that had been discarded, or, at least, never actually arrived. Libraries are not just collections of books, but social, cultural and technological institutions. They house not only books but also the idea of a society.

The predecessors of the New York Public Library, the Carnegie libraries of the 1880s, were not just book stacks but also community centres with public baths, bowling alleys, billiard rooms, and in at least one strange instance – at the Allegheny library in Pittsburgh – a rifle range in the basement.

Earlier in the 18th century, with the rise of industrial printing technologies and the spread of mass literacy, not only libraries but as many as a thousand book clubs sprang up through Europe. They were highly social, if occasionally rowdy places, offering a space not only for men but also women to gather. Monthly dinners were a common feature. Book club rules included penalties for drunkenness and swearing.

So too, the fabled Library of Alexandria – where Eratosthenes invented the discipline of geography and Archimedes calculated the accurate value of Pi – was not a collection of scrolls but a centre of innovation and learning. It was part of a larger museum with botanical gardens, laboratories, living quarters and lecture halls. Libraries are social places.

Lost libraries

Kells’s Catalogue of Wonders is at its best when it recounts the stories of these ancient libraries, charting the accidental trails of books, and therefore ideas, through processes of translating, pirating and appropriation. And the trades and technologies of papermaking that enabled them.

The library of the Pharaoh Ramses II in the second millennium BCE contained books of papyrus, palm leaves, bone, bark, ivory linen and stone. But “in other lands and other times,” Kells writes,

books would also be made from silk, gems, plastic, silicon, bamboo, hemp, rags, glass, grass, wood, wax, rubber, enamel, iron, copper, silver, gold, turtle shell, antlers, hair, rawhide and the intestines of elephants.

One sheep, he says, yields a single folio sheet. A bible requires 250. The Devil’s Bible , a large 13th-century manuscript from Bohemia, was made from the skin of 160 donkeys.

Ptolemy founded the Library of Alexandria around 300 BCE, on a spit of land between a lake and the man-made port of Pharos. He sent his agents far and wide with messages to kings and emperors, asking to borrow and copy books.

There are many stories about the dissolution of this library: that it was burnt by invading Roman soldiers or extremist Christians or a pagan revolt – or that a caliph ordered the books be burnt to heat the waters of the urban bathhouses. Or just as likely, as Kells points out, the scrolls, which were made of fragile papyrus, simply disintegrated.

But the knowledge contained in the scrolls never entirely disappeared. Even as the collection dissipated, a brisk trade in pirated scrolls copied out in a nearby merchant’s district ensured that the works eventually found their way to Greece and Constantinople, where other libraries would maintain them for another thousand years.

Destroyed collections

One thing that Kells fails to address in his book is the problems that arise when books are excluded, destroyed, censored and forgotten. And, indeed, when libraries are decimated.

Any list of destroyed libraries makes startling reading: The libraries of Constantinople sacked by the Crusaders, the Maya codices destroyed by Franciscan monks, the libraries of Beijing and Shanghai destroyed by occupying Japanese forces, the National Library of Serbia destroyed by the Nazi Luftwaffe, the Sikh Library of the Punjab destroyed at the behest of Indira Gandhi, the Library of Cambodia destroyed by the Khmer Rouge.

More recently, thousands of priceless manuscripts were burnt in the Timbuktu library in Mali and rare books spanning centuries of human learning were burnt at the University of Mosul. Yet more book burnings have been conducted by ISIS, in a reign of cultural devastation that includes museums, archaeological sites, shrines and mosques.

There is also destruction for which the so called “Coalition of the Willing” must accept responsibility. Dr Saad Eskander, the Director of the Iraq National Library and Archive, reported the devastation of the library in a diary posted on the British Library website: archival materials 60% lost, rare books 95% lost, manuscripts 25% lost.

There may be something not quite right in mourning the death of books in a time of war, as people are dying. But the problem remains that without books and documents, the history of the world can be rewritten.

Indeed, as Iraqi librarians sought to preserve the bookish remains of their country in the still working freezer of a bombed out Iraqi officer’s club, the US military quietly airlifted the archives of the Baathist Secret Police out of the country.

These are the dark places where, as George Orwell once said, the clocks strike thirteen, and Kells does not go.

Of course, the great irony of censorship and book burning is that books are destroyed because it is believed that they are important, and they possess a certain power.

Libraries of the future

In the age of the globalisation of everything – and the privatisation of everything else – libraries can and must change. It is seldom discussed that one of the great destroyers of books are actually libraries themselves, bearing cost cuts, and space limitations. But this process can be ameliorated by companies such as Better World Books that divert library books from landfill, finding new owners and funding literacy initiatives – you can even choose a carbon neutral footprint at the checkout.

Libraries, by which I mean public libraries that are free, open and accessible, will not become extinct, even though they face new competition from the rise of private libraries and the Internet. Libraries will not turn into mausoleums and reliquaries, because they serve a civic function that extends well beyond the books they hold.

Libraries can and must change. Quiet study areas are being reduced, replaced not only by computer rooms but also by social areas that facilitate group discussions and convivial reading. There will be more books transferred to offsite storage, but there will also be more ingenious methods of getting these books back to readers.

There will be an emphasis on opening rare books collections to greater numbers of readers. There is and must be greater investment in digital collections. Your mobile phone will no longer be switched off in the library, but may well be the very thing that brings the library to you in your armchair.

The much heralded “death of the book” has nothing to do with the death of reading or writing. It is about a radical transformation in reading practices. New technologies are taking books and libraries to places that are, as yet, unimaginable. Where there will undoubtedly be new wonders to catalogue.

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Welcome to the Online Library of Liberty

The OLL brings books and ideas together so they can converse with each other and with you. We’ve gathered together collections of texts from historical movements and about big ideas that have changed the world to make it easier to allow our texts to “talk” to each other.

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Joseph Addison (author)

First produced in 1713, Cato, A Tragedy inspired generations toward a pursuit of liberty. Liberty Fund’s new edition of Cato: A Tragedy, and Selected Essays brings together Addison’s dramatic masterpiece along with a selection of his… more

Thomas Gordon (author)

A facsimile of the 1737 edition. Volume 4 (December 1722 to December 1723) of a four volume set. Almost a generation before Washington, Henry, and Jefferson were even born, two Englishmen, concealing their identities with the honored… more

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This anthology unites the most significant political writing from the compendium known as The Encyclopedia. It includes eighty-one of the most original, controversial and representative articles on political ideas, practices, and… more

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A Goodbye to a Good Man

By: Michael Zigismund Jun 10, 2024

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The Rebirth of the Austrian School and the South Royalton Conference: Marking the Fifty-Year Anniversary (June 2024)

By: Richard Ebeling Jun 04, 2024

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Love is an affection which carries the attention of the mind beyond itself, and is the sense of a relation to some fellow-creature as to its object. Being a complacency and a continued satisfaction in this object, it has, independent… more Adam Ferguson

In the payment of the interest of the publick debt, it has been said, it is the right hand which pays the left. [52] The money does not go out of the country. It is only a part of the revenue of one set of the inhabitants which is… more Adam Smith

Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production; and the interest of the producer ought to be attended to, only so far as it may be necessary for promoting that of the consumer. The maxim is so perfectly self-evident, that… more Adam Smith

References and Guides

Mandeville: his life and work.

Works by Bernard de Mandevile

Source: Editor's Introduction to Mandeville's The Fable of the Bees or Private Vices, Publick Benefits, 2 vols. With a Commentary Critical, Historical, and Explanatory by F.B. Kaye (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1988). Vol. 1.

Kalidasa: Life and Works

Source: Introduction to Translations of Shakuntala and Other Works, by Arthur W. Ryder (London: J.M. Dent, 1920).

Kalidasa probably lived in the fifth century of the Christian era. This date, approximate as it is, must yet be given with…

Chronology: the Life and Times of William Penn

William Penn Collections: Political Theory Collections: Religious Toleration

Source: In The Political Writings of William Penn, introduction and annotations by Andrew R. Murphy (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2002).

Emerson on Anti-slavery

Ralph Waldo Emerson was a passionate opponent of slavery. Scattered throughout volume 11 of his collected works are essays and speeches on this topic. Here are a list of them:

Address On Emancipation In the British West Indies (August 1844) . Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Works of Ralph Waldo…

Shakespeare: Liberty and Responsibility

This is a Reading List based upon a Liberty Fund Conference on “Liberty and Sovereignty in Four Shakespearean Tragedies.”

John Milton: Liberty in his Prose and Poetry

This is a Reading List based upon a Liberty Fund Conference on “Liberty in the Poetry and Prose of John Milton.”

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Over the course of time some particularly noteworthy essays, chapters or sections of books are forgotten. This section is an attempt to revive these “forgotten gems”.

An Introduction to the Major Writings of Ludwig von Mises

Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973)

The Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973) wrote widely on matters such as highly technical works on monetary theory as well as journalistic pieces designed for a broader audience. Here is an annotated list of some of his major writings which have been…

Socialism: A Study Guide and Reader

This Study Guide examines the long-standing clash between Socialism and Marxism, and Classical Liberalism over the past 200 years or so. It provides a brief history of the tradition, some of its main criticisms of the free market, the classical liberalresponse to these criticisms,…

Essay on Library for Kids

A library is a fantastic place for kids to read and learn effectively and play an important role in the kids learning phase. It is a place where they can find academic books, novels and journals to keep them engaged in learning. It is also a place where they can learn new things. A library is where people borrow books, check out magazines, and search for information. Libraries are essential because they provide access to knowledge that people might not find elsewhere. In addition, libraries serve as community centres, providing social interaction and learning opportunities. BYJU’S importance of library essay helps children learn the significance of libraries in this digital age.

The role of libraries in a digital world, library services, benefits of libraries.

The library is a valuable resource in today’s world of technology . Libraries offer books, music, movies, and even computer software. They are also where people can get help with homework and research. Libraries are essential for access to information about the world around us and their role in helping people access research activities. A short essay on library helps kids understand the role of libraries in a digital world.

Libraries have always been important in the digital world. However, with the advent of the internet influence on kids and digital technology, libraries have become even more critical.

For example, many people now rely on libraries to access information online. According to a study, 76 per cent of adults ages 18 and older say that they use the internet at least occasionally for research. This means that many people turn to their local library to find information online through the digital library system.

A library is not just a room with books, it is a place that provides access to information and community service . A library offers its members resources to help them better understand the world around them in their educational pursuits. Libraries also provide programmes and services to help people meet their personal needs, such as book clubs and computer classes. After understanding the role of libraries in this digital era, let us now know about library services by reading BYJU’S essay on library in English.

Libraries are essential to a community because they allow people to come together and learn. They provide a space where people can find information on anything they want, from history to science to literature. Libraries are also important because they offer programmes and services to help community members. Libraries often offer book clubs that allow members to discuss various books together. Moreover, libraries provide computer classes, which would enable people to learn how to use the internet safely.

When it comes to finding information, a library is one of the best places to look. There is no doubt that the library has played a significant role in the history of civilisation. From providing information on everything from ancient world history to current events, libraries have been instrumental in helping people learn and grow. BYJU’S essay on library allows kids to understand the advantages of a library:

Libraries provide access to information and resources not available anywhere else.
Libraries are often a place where people can come to know new things.
Libraries offer free programmes and services to help people stay ahead of the curve.
Many libraries have Wi-Fi, so patrons can access the internet while in the library.
Libraries often offer literacy tutoring, business support, and computer lab access to use their resources in the most efficient way possible.
Libraries are spacious and well-lit.
Libraries typically have comfortable chairs and tables for reading.
Library staff are always happy to help you find what you are looking for.
Many libraries offer free or discounted admission to members.
Libraries usually have different floors with different sections.

Libraries are essential parts of our society and should be maintained and supported in any way possible. They are an excellent resource for everyone and should not be taken lightly. For more kids learning activities like worksheets , poems and stories , visit BYJU’S website.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the first library in the world.

The Library of Ashurbanipal is the first library in the world.

Why should kids go to the library?

A library is an excellent place for children to explore their learning and discovery needs. They can learn new skills and interests with the help of many different library resources. They can also go to libraries to borrow books they cannot afford.

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Guest Essay

Pro-Lifers Helped Bring Trump to Power. Why Has He Abandoned Us?

A megaphone obscures the face of an activist. The word “God” is visible on their T-shirt.

By Patrick T. Brown

Mr. Brown is a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a conservative think tank, and a former senior policy adviser to Congress’s Joint Economic Committee.

I am far from the only young conservative whose interest in politics was sparked by the issue of abortion. In high school and college, we would stake out early-morning spots on the National Mall for the annual March for Life, write postcards to our elected officials and pray rosaries outside abortion clinics.

Along the way, many of us found ourselves in the Republican Party, often picking up other conservative causes along the way — low taxes, limited government, strong defense, border security. The bundle of preferences could be a bit ungainly at times, but we found progressive voices quick to shout down attempts for pro-lifers to work with Democrats . So the G.O.P. became home.

It’s hard to feel that way now. While traditional social conservatives and the Republican Party might be allies on some key issues, it appears that it is no longer just one political party that wants us to shelve our convictions in the name of political expediency. It’s both.

This shift has been a long time coming, but recent events have snapped it into focus. A secularizing America, plus the shifting composition of the Republican Party, means many G.O.P. voters are less churchgoing than prior generations. Many young conservatives, in particular, seem more enthusiastic about owning the libs than strengthening the family.

That might help explain why Republican politicians seemed so unprepared for the aftermath of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade. They could have prepared by focusing on politically tenable compromise and a wider array of supports for pregnant women and families . Instead, their political strategy in 2022 largely consisted of trying to change the subject , then blaming pro-lifers for poorer-than-expected midterm election results. Meanwhile the G.O.P. has been an unreliable partner in countering the state referendums that have expanded legal protections for abortion in Michigan, Ohio and other states.

Now a rewritten Republican Party platform rubber-stamped by Donald Trump loyalists largely backtracks from its goal of protecting the unborn nationwide. Sweeping language declaring a constitutional right to life has been replaced by a somewhat garbled mention of due process, specifying that states are “free to pass laws” that restrict abortion. A mention of the traditional understanding of marriage is also gone. The platform even omits standing against taxpayer funding for abortion, offering only a mention of opposing “late-term abortion” — a category often understood as excluding the roughly 99 percent of abortion procedures that occur before 21 weeks of pregnancy. The new platform makes sure to include positive mentions of birth control and in vitro fertilization yet neglects any reference to pregnancy resource centers or child care.

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UCAS to replace personal statement essay with three questions to help disadvantaged people

UCAS surveyed potential applicants about to start their personal statement and found more than three-quarters prefer the new three-question format.

By Claire Gilbody Dickerson, news reporter

Thursday 18 July 2024 03:37, UK

Students applying for university through UCAS will be required to answer three questions under new plans to help support people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Under the current system, prospective students have been filling out a free-response essay for their personal statement, which can be up to 4,000 characters long.

But amid concerns the task helps advantaged people who can get support, the essay will, as of September 2025, be replaced with three mandatory questions.

The questions are:

• Why do you want to study this course or subject?

• How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?

• What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences helpful?

More on Higher Education

Labour's Bridget Phillipson criticised for refusing to rule out tuition-fee hike

File photo dated 24/04/2018 of a general view of St Salvator's Hall at the University of St Andrews. The University of St Andrews has taken the top spot in a national league table, beating Oxford and Cambridge. St Andrews has been placed higher than the elite Oxbridge institutions for only the second time in the 30-year history of The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide. The rankings show that Oxford fell from first to second place with Cambridge remaining in third place. Issue date

Good University Guide: St Andrews comes out top, with Oxford bumped to second

As A-level results return to normality, is going to university still worth it?

The Library at the End of the World

In the middle of last year, I visited Hobart. Officially, I was there to help run a writing workshop; unofficially, I was there for a gathering organised by a philanthropist with an interest in the environment. The guest list was eclectic – some scientists, an artist who has been creating work from ocean plastics and her partner, a writer or two – but there was no agenda, no expectation of resolutions or outcomes. Instead, seated in an old building in Hobart’s city centre, we talked about our work, the world, the future, searching out points of connection and intersection, discussing ways of expressing and managing the fears we were all, in our different ways, grappling with.

Afterwards, I headed south to the farm of an old friend who moved to Tasmania several years ago. I was excited to see him, but also a little dislocated by the day, and indeed the months leading up to it. I had just finished writing a long essay about hope and denial in the face of the climate crisis, and at what point the two become indistinguishable. None of the material in the essay was new to me, but writing it had left me even more uncomfortably aware than usual of my failure to think through what I intend to do if – or when – things go bad. ‘When it happens, it will happen fast,’ one of the scientists had said. ‘And probably sooner than people expect.’ ‘Our place is built back from the road so it’s hidden from strangers,’ said another. ‘That’s going to matter.’ It had been like hanging out with the worst support group ever.

At the farm, this conversation about the end of the world continued, growing increasingly raucous as the night went on. One by one, though, the other guests began to leave or creep off to bed, until finally, sometime after midnight, my friend and I stumbled outside and stared up at the stars.

It was winter, the night air freezing, and overhead the stars were impossibly numerous, impossibly bright, the great girdle of the Milky Way luminous. For a moment I was unable to speak, dizzied by the wonder of it, the idea the light we were seeing was ancient, that much of it had been travelling since before Europeans invaded the land I was standing on, since before the birth of Christ, or the birth of the stories of Gilgamesh, Thoth and Osiris, since before the first intimations of the even older stories of Australia’s Indigenous peoples. Since before there were human beings at all.

We’d been drinking, and it’s possible at least one of us was wearing a fake moustache. But as we stood there, my friend suddenly grew serious. ‘There’s a chance I might come into some money,’ he said. ‘And if I do, I’m going to build a library. Just up there, at the back of the property.’

As he explained his plan to me, it became clear he wasn’t envisaging some grand structure: more a granny flat that could serve as a repository for books and documents. Yet as he spoke, I could hear the same anxiety that had underpinned the conversation about bunkers back in the city. Something is coming, he was saying, something terrifying and incomprehensible, a storm that will wipe all this away. In such a situation, a library would not be a folly or an indulgence, it would be a lifeboat, a way of bearing some part of what we are into an increasingly unimaginable future.

My friend isn’t alone in his anxiety. Earlier this year, climate scientist Joëlle Gergis wrote about her work as one of the lead authors on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report, due for release in 2022, and in particular about recent research by Australian scientists that suggests previous climate models have seriously underestimated the sensitivity of the Earth’s systems. Temperatures could rise much faster and much higher than previously thought. According to these new models, in the worst case scenarios Australia could warm by a previously unthinkable seven degrees above pre-industrial levels by 2100. Even under lower emission scenarios, temperatures are likely to rise more than previously thought. More frighteningly, the study showed that on our current emissions trajectory we are likely to reach two degrees of warming by 2040. ‘The implications of this are unimaginable – we may witness planetary collapse far sooner than we once thought,’ wrote Gergis. ‘How could we not understand that life as we know it is unravelling before our eyes? That we have unleashed intergenerational warming that will be with us for millennia?’

The fires, heatwaves and storms in Australia and North America over the past twelve months have given us terrifying glimpses of what this future will look like. But they are only the beginning. As University of Illinois climate scientist Cristi Proistosescu noted recently , the time has come to stop thinking of this month’s record heat in California as the warmest August of the past hundred years, instead we need to start thinking of it as the coolest August of the next hundred years.

Even at two degrees our world will be utterly transformed: food and water scarcity, ecosystem collapse, extreme weather and disease will generate large movements of people within and between countries and are likely to cause widespread social unrest and political instability. Beyond that the scenarios grow ever more horrific, with large areas of the world rendered effectively uninhabitable by the end of the century and billions displaced, with calamitous implications for regional and global security and the lives and futures of those displaced. The first stages in this process are already underway in many parts of the world. In the United States 1.2 million people have been displaced by disasters annually since 2016. And in Southeast Asia, Central America and the African Sahel, millions are already on the move. And these numbers will only increase in years to come.

The failure to take concerted action sooner also means that much of this change is now unavoidable, because the planet will continue to warm no matter what we do. Indeed many experts worry we may have already passed the point where it is possible to prevent a process of runaway warming that will push the Earth into a radically less habitable hothouse climate state. In an article published in Nature late last year, seven of the world’s leading climate scientists warned of the possibility of ‘large-scale discontinuities’ with only one to two degrees of warming. Pointing to research showing worrying changes in nine of the fifteen systems that regulate the Earth’s climate, they argued current our current emissions trajectory risks triggering a global cascade of tipping points that would pose an ‘existential threat to civilization’. Speaking earlier this year Will Steffen, Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University and one of the authors of the article, said it is possible collapse is already inevitable:

Given the momentum in both the Earth and human systems, and the growing difference between the ‘reaction time’ needed to steer humanity towards a more sustainable future, and the ‘intervention time’ left to avert a range of catastrophes in both the physical climate system (e.g., melting of Arctic sea ice) and the biosphere (e.g., loss of the Great Barrier Reef), we are already deep into the trajectory towards collapse … That is, the intervention time we have left has, in many cases, shrunk to levels that are shorter than the time it would take to transition to a more sustainable system.

Others share Steffen’s pessimism. Last year, Melbourne-based think tank the Breakthrough Centre for Climate Restoration produced a report that argued ‘climate change now represents a near- to mid-term existential threat to human civilization’. It presented a plausible portrait of the national security implications of the disruption of global food and water supplies due to rapid global heating. In so doing, it offered ‘a glimpse into a world of ‘outright chaos’ on a path to the end of human civilisation and modern society as we have known it, in which the challenges to global security are simply overwhelming and political panic becomes the norm.’ Yet as the report’s authors note, ‘the world is currently completely unprepared to envisage, and even less deal with, the consequences of catastrophic climate change.’

In a similar vein, Simon Beard, from Cambridge University’s Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, has suggested we are perilously close to entering ‘a global systems death spiral’, in which pressures on social systems converge, creating a feedback loop. ‘You … get food security collapsing, political systems collapsing [and then] rising levels of environmental destruction. With this many people, that could be genuinely devastating for all of humanity.’

Others go further still. In 2017, Jem Bendell, a professor of sustainability at England’s Cumbria University, published a paper in which he accused his colleagues of failing to come to terms with the true implications of current climate science. Arguing near-term social collapse is now inevitable, Bendell proposed we needed to let go of the idea our world might be saved, and instead reframe our approach to the problems we face in ways that acknowledge reality instead of denying it, a conceptual framework he dubbed ‘Deep Adaptation’.

Bendell’s paper is important, and deserves to be read in its entirety. In contrast to most academic papers, it is candid about its author’s feelings of fear and hopelessness. ‘Even four years after I first let myself consider near-term extinction properly, not as something to dismiss, it still makes my jaw drop, eyes moisten, and air escape my lungs.’ And, rather than offering specific prescriptions for action, he advocates for radical honesty in the face of loss and disaster. What do we really want to save, he asks, and what is it no longer possible to hold on to? What do we need to let go of if we are to avoid making things worse? Perhaps most importantly, how do we come to grips with the certainty of our own mortality?

Bendell’s paper is profoundly clarifying, as is his demand we let go of magical thinking and denial and admit the world we know is already gone. Yet I would not be the first to observe that there is a slippage in his argument, a blurring of the distinction between possible (or even probable) short-term collapse and inevitable short-term collapse, or to question his reliance on worst-case scenarios to support his case. Nor am I alone in feeling uneasy about the way an emphasis upon inevitability focuses our attention inward, on questions of personal grief and fear, instead of turning our gaze outwards towards the structures and institutions driving the crisis. The climate emergency is not a natural phenomenon or a disease, something that just happened, it is the result of specific actions taken by a relatively small cabal of corporations and their political enablers in the full knowledge of what they were doing. Or, in Utah Phillips’ words, ‘the earth is not dying, it is being killed, and those who are killing it have names and addresses ’. Given that, is grief really the most appropriate – or useful – response? Wouldn’t it be better to hold those responsible accountable? To overthrow the structures that have made their actions possible? After all, as John Lydon famously observed, ‘anger is an energy’ .

Still, in the face of such a convulsion, it is tempting to envision what is coming as a kind of rupture or discontinuity without precedent. As the eminent pyrohistorian Stephen Pyne writes :

So dire is the picture that some observers argue that the past is irrelevant. We are headed into a no-narrative, no-analogue future. So immense and unimaginable are the coming upheavals that the arc of inherited knowledge that joins us to the past has broken. There is no precedent for what we are about to experience, no means by which to triangulate from accumulated human wisdom into a future unlike anything we have known before.

Yet as Pyne notes, we should be wary of claims that our current situation is without parallel. Human societies have risen and fallen for thousands of years. Wouldn’t a better understanding of the factors that drive their success or failure illuminate our current predicament?

These questions lie at the heart of a growing body of work that seeks to identify the vulnerabilities of industrial civilization, and to explore the ways in which the intersecting and interconnected ecological, economic and political crises we face might cause it to unravel. Dubbed ‘collapsology’ by French agronomist Pablo Servigne and systems expert Raphaël Stevens in their book, How Everything Can Collapse: A Manual for Our Times (2020), this relatively new discipline draws on work in fields ranging from biology and anthropology to political theory, computer science, sociology, economics and geography.

As How Everything Can Collapse demonstrates, the chief interest of collapsology is the immediate past and near future. Yet it also draws lessons from the work of the various historians and archaeologists who have sought to place the development and decline of cultures and societies within a larger framework, or to theorise collapse.

The rise and fall of civilisations has been a preoccupation of historians for almost as long as history has existed, (Edward Gibbon, anybody?), yet in its contemporary incarnation the two most influential contributions are those of anthropologist and historian, Joseph A. Tainter and historian, geographer and ecologist Jared Diamond. In The Collapse of Complex Societies (1988), Tainter argues societies tend to become more complex over time, as their responses to challenges and opportunity lead to ever-increasing levels of social and economic specialisation. This specialisation is expensive in material terms, often involving whole classes of workers and specialists whose role is not the production of food or other basic needs, but instead coordinating and managing the structures that sustain the society. Collapse for Tainter is therefore the rapid simplification of these same social and political structures.

In his wildly successful Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive (2005), Diamond adopts Tainter’s notion of collapse as a rapid reduction in social, economic or social complexity, but adds a demographic element as well, arguing collapse often also includes a drastic decrease in human population. This addition is significant, because it lends an apocalyptic or millenarian dimension to the concept. But Diamond also – importantly – emphasises environmental factors, in particular rapid increases in population, deforestation and over-exploitation of resources. Exploring case studies as diverse as the Maya, the Anasazi, the Rapa Nui, the Norse settlements in Greenland, and more recent calamities such as the Rwandan genocide, he discerns a pattern in which overpopulation leads to deforestation or unsustainable farming practices, degrading the local environment and leading to food shortages that result in violence, political instability and, ultimately, depopulation and collapse. This process is usually hastened by other causes – climate change in the case of the Mayans and the Greenland Norse, isolation and political and religious factors in the case of the Rapa Nui – but its basic outline remains the same across cultures and across time, as do its lessons for us today. As Diamond concludes, ‘The parallels between Easter Island and the whole modern world are chillingly obvious,’ and provide ‘a metaphor, a worst-case scenario, for what may lie ahead of us in our own future.’

Diamond’s book has been controversial. Historians have suggested his approach depends on highly selective use of evidence, and sometimes questionable interpretations that are driven by his larger argument about environmental exploitation and degradation. In Questioning Collapse: Human Resilience, Ecological Vulnerability and the Aftermath of Empire (2010), a collection of essays edited by archaeologists Patricia McAnany and Norman Yoffee, contributors point to the fact that seven million people still speak Mayan languages, a fact that contradicts the claim Mayan society disappeared. They also suggest that even the seemingly simple story about environmental devastation leading to the collapse of Rapa Nui’s society is questionable, given people were still living on the island when Europeans arrived. As McAnany and Yoffee conclude, ‘on close inspection of archaeological evidence … it becomes clear that human resilience is the rule rather than the exception.’

Guy D. Middleton makes a similar point in Understanding Collapse: Ancient History and Modern Myths (2017), in which he questions what we mean by collapse. A decline in population? Over what period? A loss of sociopolitical complexity? At what level? The end of the British Empire devolved power onto individual nations, but it was not a collapse in any meaningful sense. Likewise the end of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century AD did not bring about the abrupt end of Roman society and culture, suggesting cultures often endure even when particular political or religious regimes fail or are transformed. Indeed in many instances we might just as easily celebrate such transformations as examples of successful adaptation and change, and see in them evidence of continuity rather than cautionary tales of collapse.

As Middleton observes, the way we frame and interpret events frequently says more about our own anxieties than it does about historical reality. This is particularly true of the kind of ecological overshoot argument Diamond favours. Citing Joseph A. Tainter’s observation that there ‘does not presently appear to be a confirmed case of overshoot, resource degradation, and collapse brought about by overpopulation and/or mass consumption,’ Middleton notes that not only do ‘overshoot models strongly reflect contemporary concerns’, but that most of their ‘most ardent proponents are outside of archaeology’. And, perhaps most importantly, that they tend to ‘see populations as either unwitting victims of natural circumstances, such as climate change, or as ignorant and irresponsible ecocidal architects of their own doom’.

A similar insight underpins Dutch historian Dagmar Degroot’s The Frigid Golden Age: Climate Change, the Little Ice Age and the Dutch Republic (2018), which is part of a growing body of research exploring the effects of the period of cooler global temperatures that prevailed from the late thirteenth century until the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, and which, in its three coldest phases – the Spörer Minimum, which lasted from 1450 to 1530; the Grindelwald Fluctuation, which extended from the early 1560s until about 1630; and the Maunder Minimum of 1645-1715 – saw falls in global temperatures of as much as 0.5 degrees Celsius.

Exactly what caused this cooling remains contentious. Some scientists point to a decrease in solar activity: analysis of carbon 14 deposits in tree rings and historical records have identified two periods of very low sunspot activity in the years 1460-1550 and 1645-1750. Others have suggested the temperature declines were caused by volcanic activity, in particular the catastrophic explosion of the Samalas volcano in Lombok in 1257 and the eruption that created the submarine caldera of Kuwae in Vanuatu in 1452. Still others identify changing ocean currents as the culprit.

Whatever its cause, the effects of this sudden cooling were significant. Ice spread south from the Arctic, surrounding Greenland and Iceland, and in mountainous areas glaciers expanded. The colder winters affected rainfall patterns, causing droughts in many areas and flooding in others, leading to widespread crop failures, famine and social upheaval. Norse colonies in Greenland were abandoned. In Iceland, its harbours cut off by the ice, the population fell by half. In the Alps, villages were destroyed by glaciers, and in England the Thames froze. The Swedes took advantage of the freezing of the Zealand Straits to march across the ocean to attack Denmark, while in Africa changing climactic conditions allowed Moroccan soldiers to march across the Sahara and sack Timbuktu, capital of the declining Songhai Empire. In China, crop failures and drought may well have played a part in the long conflict that led to the fall of the Ming Dynasty in the seventeenth century, and it is possible famine and disease driven by cooler conditions in the fifteenth century weakened Mesoamerican societies and made them less able to resist European invasion. Dendrochronologists have even linked the unique sound of Stradivarius’ violins to the cooler climate, arguing the longer winters and shorter summers resulted in a denser wood that has not been seen since.

Yet while many societies struggled to survive the Little Ice Age, some – notably the Dutch – flourished. Indeed, while their neighbours were sunk in conflict, or grappling with famine and political unrest, the fledgling Dutch Republic was enjoying its Golden Age, a period of rapid economic expansion and material and cultural development that saw it become a global nexus of finance and trade, encouraged the development of science, philosophy and engineering, and produced artists such as Rembrandt, Vermeer and Franz Hals.

Degroot argues these achievements are partly accidents of geography: the trading opportunities afforded by proximity to the coast left Dutch cities better equipped to cope with unreliable crops than many of their neighbours. Likewise their economic success was underpinned by the expansion of their marine trading network, a process that was assisted by changing wind patterns that shortened travel times for Dutch ships. Yet Degroot also identifies other, less obvious factors that played a part in the Republic’s success. Its high levels of urbanisation, dependence upon trade and unusual political structure, built around a loose confederation of cities and towns governed by local merchants, fostered a flexible, outward-facing culture that was able to respond creatively to the challenges of the changing climate. Dutch entrepreneurs invested in technologies that improved the efficiency of their ships and shipbuilding. They developed icebreakers, firefighting technology and fostered mapmaking and publishing, as well as innovations such as marine insurance, which allowed potential losses at sea to be defrayed, and company structures designed to make investment less risky. Faced with frozen canals and harbours, merchants set up markets on the ice; while villagers took to skating when traditional entertainments became impossible.

It is a pity Degroot’s account has relatively little to say about the darker aspects of this story, in particular the wealth generated by Dutch colonialism and the slave trade. As Marx notes, the Dutch Republic was ‘the model capitalist nation of the seventeenth century’, a point that is given added significance by recent research suggesting slavery made a far larger contribution to the Dutch economy than has often been assumed, and indeed by arguments that seek to situate the beginning of the Anthropocene in the destructive effects of colonial conquest rather than the Great Acceleration of the post-World War 2 years. As the legal structures that permit the destruction of Aboriginal sacred sites by Australian mining companies, the unequal burden of rising temperatures caused by decades of racist housing policy in the United States, or Bolsonaro’s ongoing dispossession of the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon in order to facilitate development demonstrate, capitalism and racism are often two sides of the same coin.

Nonetheless by focussing attention on the flexibility and creativity that made the Dutch Republic so resilient, Degroot offers a fascinating portrait of the ways in which societies can successfully adapt and respond to a changing environment. Equally importantly, though, his account demonstrates the way an emphasis upon decline and collapse can obscure the fact that the relationships between climate and human activity are complex and often counterintuitive, offering an important corrective to the potentially paralysing effects of narratives of despair. As Degroot puts it, ‘[t]here were winners and losers in the early modern struggle with climate change, just as there are today and will be in the future.’

I suspect that to some this will sound perilously close to Tony Abbott’s assertion that ‘coal is good for humanity’, or the Panglossian pronouncements of Steven Pinker and his ilk. Degroot is no denialist, of course – indeed he is explicit in his criticism of those who claim ‘climate change has happened before and is therefore nothing to worry about’, dubbing it ‘ahistorical nonsense’ that poses a barrier to urgent action. Yet there is no question the scale of the challenges we face today are of an entirely different order of magnitude to those the Dutch faced four hundred years ago. No less importantly, the Dutch did not face those challenges in a world where the environment is already well beyond its limits, or where the window of opportunity for change is closing rapidly.

This problem is one of the many concerns of environmental historian Jason D. Moore’s profoundly important Capitalism in the Web of Life: Ecology and the Accumulation of Capital (2015), in which Moore proposes capitalism’s success is underpinned by the availability of what he terms Cheap Nature, the environmental equivalent of the cheap labour capitalism so rapaciously seeks out. But whereas the Dutch could always strike out into the New World in search of new and cheaper resources to fuel their economy, whether in the form of goods or human bodies able to be bought and sold, global capitalism has colonised the entire planet, leaving us no new territories to plunder. As Moore observes, ‘capitalism’s basic problem is that capital’s demand for Cheap Natures tends to rise faster than its capacity to secure them.’ And with nothing left to devour, capitalism begins to feed on itself, accelerating social and environmental degradation, and increasing pressure on the cost of labour as it transitions from ‘surplus value to negative value’.

This process is already underway. As fish populations crash, reducing catches and forcing fishing boats to travel ever further, the incidence of forced labour and slavery is rising rapidly . Likewise in Brazil, record levels of land-clearing and fire are driving the Amazon rainforest ever closer to irretrievable collapse , an event that will trigger one of the major discontinuities in the Earth’s climate, possibly causing rapid and uncontrollable global heating. And here in Australia, corporate leaders and many in government are pushing to expand gas production and loosen environmental laws, locking in increased greenhouse emissions and reducing already weak environmental protections, moves that fly in the face of the catastrophic environmental , economic and human costs of the devastating bushfires of 2019 and 2020.

For Moore, the endpoint of this process is clear:

The likely demise of Cheap Nature today therefore signals the exhaustion of a civilizational model, punctuated by the rise of negative-value. Capitalism will give way to another model – or models – over the next century.

Yet while Moore is clear we are at a moment of transformation, he is considerably less certain about what comes next, arguing that ‘whether … the exhaustion of the Cheap Nature model leads to something better, or something worse, remains to be seen.’

Why then do we privilege narratives of collapse over stories of endurance and adaptation in the first place? The beginning of an answer might lie in the way these scenarios borrow heavily from the Anglo-American popular imagination, echoing the visions presented in novels and films and television shows, ranging from War of the Worlds to The Handmaid’s Tale and The Walking Dead . The way we imagine the future has always been about the way we understand the present, meaning the speculative futures of science fiction and allied genres provide a theatre for our anxieties and obsessions. And just as the worlds imagined by Wells and others are more about imperial anxieties of decline or the terror of invasion than the actual future, so too our imaginings of the end of the world reflect our own fears and concerns.

Understood like this it does not seem coincidental that the line from individualistic American fantasies about the frontier and the racist and patriarchal paranoias about social decay that grow out of them to the violent, post-apocalyptic landscapes of contemporary mass media is so short. As Mark O’Connell recently observed of the vision of imminent social collapse that motivates the American prepping and survivalist community, this is ‘a prediction of the future that could be offered only by someone who was never fully convinced by the idea of society in the first place.’ Likewise it is difficult not to discern a racist undertone in many arguments by environmentalists about overpopulation and resource depletion. When Diamond compares stressed societies to ‘overcrowded lifeboats’ and worries about breakdowns in authority and civil order, imagining the collapse of Greenland’s Viking communities as analogous to the riots in Los Angeles after the Rodney King verdict in 1992, when ‘thousands of outraged people from poor neighbourhoods … spread out to loot businesses and rich neighbourhoods,’ or suggests ‘we are increasingly seeing a similar phenomenon on a global scale … as illegal immigrants from poor countries pour into the overcrowded lifeboats represented by rich countries, and as our border controls prove no more able to stop that influx than were [the Viking leaders] and Los Angeles’s yellow [police] tape’, he makes explicit not just the othering of the victims of environmental crisis by those in rich countries, but the connections between that process and the machinery of racism and oppression within those same countries.

Something similar is visible those on the left who relish the spectre of imminent collapse as a vindication of their belief in the corruption and cruelty and materialism of contemporary society. Certainly it doesn’t seem to be coincidental that so many climate doomers are white men; as Mary Heglar quipped recently, ‘only white men can afford to be lazy enough to quit … on themselves .’

In fact, recent experience suggests that people respond to adversity with kindness rather than cruelty. In her study of communal responses to catastrophe, A Paradise Built in Hell: The Remarkable Communities that Arise in Disaster (2009), Rebecca Solnit observes that in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina most people did not turn on each other:

young men who took it upon themselves to supply water, food, diapers, and protection to the strangers stranded with them, to people who sheltered neighbours, to the uncounted hundreds or thousands who set out in boats — armed, often, but also armed with compassion — to find those who were stranded in the stagnant waters and bring them to safety, to the two hundred thousand or more who volunteered to house complete strangers, mostly in their own homes, via the Internet site hurricanehousing.org in the weeks after, more persuaded by the pictures of suffering than the rumours of monstrosity, to the uncounted tens of thousands of volunteers who came to the Gulf Coast to rebuild and restore.

Something similar was visible in Australia last summer: members of the Sikh and Muslim communities travelled to provide food for firefighters and people affected by the fires; truckies and tradies organised convoys to assist the stranded and homeless; an outpouring of public support raised millions of dollars in a matter of days and led to offers of clothes, housing and more . And in the aftermath of the recent explosion in Beirut people did all they could to transport the injured to hospitals and deliver food and medical supplies to those in need.

Solnit goes further, arguing that not only are most people altruistic in situations of extremity, but that

often the worst behaviour in the wake of a calamity is on the part of those who believe that others will behave savagely and that they themselves are taking defensive measures against barbarism. From 1906 San Francisco … to 2005 New Orleans, innocents have been killed by people who believed that their victims were the criminals and they themselves were the protectors of the shaken order.

Some studies also suggest the complexity and interconnectedness of a society may – perhaps counter-intuitively – make it more, rather than less resilient. A recent paper on the effect of the Little Ice Age on Scotland suggests that unification with England, access to English grain markets and consequent modernisation of Scottish agriculture helped prevent a recurrence of the privation and disorder of the period of mass starvation and social disruption in the 1690s known as the Ills. In the words of the study’s author , Professor Rosanne D’Arrigo,

by joining England, Scotland became more resilient … The bigger message for today is arguably that as the climate changes, nations will be stronger if they stick together and not try to go it alone.

D’Arrigo’s study emphasises the importance of strong systems within societies, pointing to how ‘weak and mean and overburdened’ Scotland’s support for the poor was in the 1690s in comparison to that of England, and suggesting this heightened their vulnerability. This echoes DeGroot’s argument that the strong system of welfare in the Dutch Republic helped protected it against loss of life and social disorder during the hardest years of the Little Ice Age. Degroot also suggests similar lessons might be found elsewhere, in particular in India’s Mughal Empire, which responded to a catastrophic famine in 1630-1 by implementing a massive program of social welfare Policymakers might also do well to listen more closely to Indigenous Australians, whose bonds of community and culture have enabled them to survive two and a half centuries of disease, dispossession and violence.

Of course, none of this alters the reality of the situation. We are hurtling into a world that will be unlike any humans have experienced before. Extreme weather events are already being intensified by rising global temperatures, and this process will accelerate rapidly as temperatures continue to increase. Even in the best-case scenarios rising sea levels, extreme heat, social upheaval and food and water shortages will displace hundreds of millions within a generation and transform the lives of hundreds of millions more for the worse, triggering social upheaval and conflict. Unsurprisingly the burden of this will be borne disproportionately by the poor, the vulnerable and the disadvantaged. And these costs pale into insignificance against the ecological catastrophe taking place around us, the wave of extinction and ecosystem collapse sweeping across the globe. Scientists estimate humans have killed more than 60 per cent of the world’s wild animals over the past 50 years, a figure that is dwarfed by our effect on invertebrate species and plants.

The scale and urgency of this emergency cannot be overstated. The fate of the human world and the fate of the planet are inextricably connected. Yet while it might be impossible for society to survive in its current form, that does not mean the only alternative is catastrophe. As DeGroot observes:

The past tells us that when climatic trends make it impossible to live in the same city, grow food in the same way or continue existing economic relationships, the result for a society is not invariably crisis and collapse. Individuals, communities and societies can respond in surprising ways, and crisis – if it does come – could provoke some of the most productive innovations of all. Those responses, in turn, yield still more transformations within evolving societies. If that was true in the past, it is even more true today, as seismic political and cultural changes coincide with the breakneck development and democratisation of artificial intelligence, synthetic biology and other revolutionary technologies.

It is a point Moore echoes, when he declares ‘the politics of fear and catastrophism … will not produce the clarity necessary to face the challenges ahead’. Or as the psychotherapist and climate psychologist Sally Gillespie has said, ‘the most transformative debates move beyond old binaries that insist on an either/or perspective. Whenever we are caught in a binary of oppositions, our minds become handicapped by what we do not want to see or acknowledge.’

This might seem a trivial thing, but it is not. The philosopher Jonathan Lear writes of what he calls radical hope. Radical hope is not simple optimism, or the opposite of despair. Instead it involves accepting the fears so many of us grappling with and using them as the basis for a new set of priorities. Or, as Lear writes, ‘What makes … hope radical is that it is directed toward a future goodness that transcends the current ability to understand what it is. Radical hope anticipates a good for which those who have the hope as yet lack the appropriate concepts with which to understand it.’

Like deep adaptation, radical hope is a psychological practice as well as a political position. It requires us to accept the past is gone, and that the political and cultural assumptions that once shaped our world no longer hold true. It demands we learn to live with uncertainty and grief, and to face up to the reality of loss. But it also demands what Lear describes as ‘imaginative excellence’, a deliberate fostering of the flexibility and courage necessary to ‘facilitate a creative and appropriate response to the world’s challenges’ that will enable us to envision new alliances and open up new possibilities, even in the face of catastrophe.

If the disasters of recent years have made our new reality manifest, the spread of COVID-19 has exposed a reality we often seek to ignore by throwing systemic inequality, racism and oppression into stark relief. Around the world, the poor and vulnerable, many of whom are people of colour, have suffered the highest rates of infection and death, borne the brunt of both economic disruption and the policing of restrictions, as well as being required to expose themselves to increased risk of infection in workplaces in order to maintain vital services and supply chains.

Simultaneously though, recent months have also seen growing demands for change. In the United States, Britain, Europe and Australia, millions of people have taken to the streets demanding an end to the systems of oppression that underpin these inequalities. The protestors’ demands that the developed world reckon with the legacies of colonialism and slavery are a reminder that questions of climate justice are intimately entwined with historical injustice, and the impossibility of addressing one without addressing the other. But their courage, and its success in shifting the terms of political discourse around the world is also a reminder that it is in moments of crisis that new ideas, and new possibilities take on transformative power.

There is no single solution to the climate crisis. But neither is there an inevitable outcome. Both assumptions are forms of magical thinking that obscure much more complicated realities. Coming decades are going to be unimaginably difficult, and as societies and cultures struggle to transform themselves some will succeed better than others. There is no question there will be loss, and pain, and fear, or that there will be mistakes and defeats as well as successes. But fixating on collapse, and assuming the story can have only one ending elides not just the possibility of future change, but also the change that is already taking place. We need libraries and lifeboats, but we also need to recognise that history keeps happening, and that in the middle of transformative change and upheaval it is often difficult to see what lies on the other side.

The challenges we face are immense. As I write this against the backdrop of devastating fires in the United States and an Atlantic hurricane season so intense it has run out of names, a new study suggests the already unprecedented melting of the Greenland ice sheet is accelerating, while another reports the Arctic is shifting permanently from an ecosystem ‘dominated by ice and snow to one characterized by open water and rain’. Yet what history shows us is that stories like this should not be an excuse for giving up, they are reason to fight harder, for what is certain is that the answers to the problems we face do not lie in acceptance and retreat, but in action and engagement. Or as young Wangan-Jagalingou activist Murrawah Johnson put it not long ago, ‘we’ve seen the end of the world … and we’ve decided not to accept it’.

We are grateful to the City of Sydney for funding to commission and publish this essay.

Works Cited

Patricia Ann McAnany and Norman Yoffee (editors), Questioning Collapse: Human Resilience, Ecological Vulnerability and the Aftermath of Empire (Cambridge University Press, 2010).

Dagomar Degroot, The Frigid Golden Age: Climate Change, the Little Ice Age, and the Dutch Republic, 1560–1720 (Cambridge University Press, 2018).

Jared Diamond, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive (Penguin, 2011)

Sally Gillespie, Climate Crisis and Consciousness: Re-imagining Our World and Ourselves (Routledge, 2020).

Jonathan Lear, Radical Hope: Ethics in the Face of Cultural Devastation (Harvard University Press 2006).

Patricia A. McAnany and Norman Yoffee (eds), Questioning Collapse: Human Resilence, Ecological Vulnerability and the Aftermath of Empire (Cambridge University Press, 2010)

Guy D. Middleton, Understanding Collapse: Ancient History and Modern Myths (Cambridge University Press, 2017).

Jason D. Moore, Capitalism in the Web of Life: Ecology and the Accumulation of Capital (Verso, 2015).

Mark O’Connell, Notes from an Apocalypse: A Personal Journey to the End of the World and Back (Granta, 2020).

Pablo Servigne and Raphaël Stevens, How Everything Can Collapse: A Manual for Our Times (Polity Press, 2020)

Rebecca Solnit, A Paradise Built in Hell: The Remarkable Communities that Arise in Disaster (Viking, 2009).

Joseph A. Tainter, The Collapse of Complex Societies (Cambridge University Press, 1988).

James Bradley is an award-winning author and critic. His books include five, most recently Clade (2015) and...

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Essay on Library: 100, 200 and 250 Words

Sample Essay on Library

100 Words Essay on Library

200-250 Words Essay on Library

Short Essay on Library

Kajal Thareja

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1. Hook your reader

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