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About Author
Oliver Sacks was born in 1933 in London and was educated at the Queen’s College, Oxford. He completed his medical training at San Francisco’s Mount Zion Hospital and at UCLA before moving to New York, where he soon encountered the patients whom he would write about in his book Awakenings. Sacks was a neurologist and an author whose case studies of patients with unusual disorders became best-sellers. “On Libraries” is written in praise of intellectual freedom, community work, and the ecstasy of serendipitous discovery. Among the titans of mind and spirit shaped and saved by libraries was the great neurologist, author, and voracious reader.
Summary
The essay ‘On Libraries’ is an autobiographical essay that has been written by British neurologist, naturalist, historian of science, and writer, Oliver Sacks. He was Born in Britain. He received his medical degree in 1960 from The Queen’s College, Oxford. In this essay, the author has presented his childhood memories as well as his experiences regarding his interest in libraries. This essay has been written in the praise of intellectual freedom, community work, a high state of unexpected discovery and so on. Here, he has presented his delightful feelings for all the readers (book lovers) of the world.
The author begins his essay with his childhood days. According to him, when he was a child, his favorite room at home was the library, a large oak-paneled (having panels that are made of oak) room with all four walls covered by bookcases-and a solid table for writing and studying in the middle. That library was his father’s special library. Her mother had her favourite books in a separate bookcase in the lounge. For the author, the library was the quietest and most beautiful room in the house. He was found in his library whenever he was late for lunch or dinner. He learned to read at the early age of three or four. In London where he spent the happiest hours of his adult life. He obtained his formal schooling there. He disliked passive reading in formal schools because he was an active reader and self learner. He was a good student in libraries and enjoyed reading whatever book he wanted in the company of other readers. He didn’t care much about the information received in the class. In the libraries, he roamed to choose whatever he wanted. In the library, he felt free to look at thousands, tens of thousands, of books; Free to roam and enjoy the special atmosphere and quiet companionship of other readers. When he got older, he began studying astronomy and chemistry. After that, he went to St. Paul’s School at the age of 12 where he got a chance to visit an excellent library called the Walker Library. The library was particularly heavy with information related to history and politics. Later, he went to Oxford University. He also got a chance to access Oxford university’s two great libraries there called the Radcliffe Science Library and the Bodleian. In the Bodleian Library, he studied the works of Theodore Hook. Theodore Hook was a man greatly admired in the early nineteenth century for his wit. After reading Theodore Hook, he decided to create a biography of him. He examined ancient texts such as Gesner’s Historiae Animalium (1551), Agassiz’s volumes, Charles Darwin, Sir Thomas Browne, and Jonathan Swift. as well as 17th and 18th-century writings of Samuel Johnson, David Hume, Alexander Pop and John Dryden.
He came to New York City in 1965 and started to live in a small apartment. The apartment wasn’t spacious. It was quite difficult for him to read or write there. He went to the library at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine where he worked. It was spacious. He would easily sit at a large table to read or write. He continued to visit libraries, sitting at a table surrounded by mountains of books. The author opines that in the library, we feel a sense of community and intimacy. According to the author, meeting people in a library and passing books with each other develop a kind of friendship and trust is created among people. The conversations in a whispering manner in libraries develop friendships among them. Later on, the author talks about a shift that occurred in libraries. During the 1990s, he would continue to visit the library frequently taking a mountain of books in front of him but he discovered that students were ignoring bookshelves in favour of accessing material on their computers. Very few students went to the shelves. The majority of students were not using the books. That happened in the AECOM Library and other libraries throughout the world. Seeing the majority of users and their disinterest in using the books, the college decided to dispose of the books ultimately. It was the destruction of centuries of wisdom. He was upset by the loss of books. Over the last few years, most of the books had been thrown out of libraries. Seeing his distress, a librarian reassured him that everything “of worth” had been digitized (convert the pictures, text, or sound into a digital form). But he did not use a computer, and he was deeply saddened by the loss of books.
Understanding The Text
1) Where could the author be found when he was late for lunch or dinner?
Ans: The author could be found in the library of his father when he was late for lunch or dinner.
2) What are his first memories?
Ans: The books and a large oak-paneled library are his first memories.
3) Why did he dislike school?
Ans: The author disliked passive reading in formal schools because he was an active reader and self learner. He was a good student in libraries and enjoyed reading whatever book he wanted. He didn’t care much about the information received in the class. He liked to learn himself in the libraries being free to choose books of his own choice. So, he didn’t like school.
4) What did he feel about at the library?
Ans: At the library, he felt himself free to look thousands of books of his own choice. He felt the freedom to roam and enjoy the special atmosphere and the quiet companionship of other readers.
5) Why did he become so fascinated by Hook?
Ans: He became so fascinated by Theodore Hook because he was greatly admired in the nineteenth century for his wit. He was said to have composed more than 500 operas on the spot.
6) Describe library at the Queen’s College.
Ans: The Queen’s College is the constituent (being a part of a whole) college of Oxford University, England. The college has magnificent library building which was designed by Christopher Wren himself, the greatest English architect of his time. The author loved the library at the Queen’s College the most.
7 ) Why did the students ignore the bookshelves in the 1990s?
Ans: The students ignored the bookshelves in the 1990s because they had access to computerized books.
8) Why was he horrified when he visited the library a couple of months ago?
Ans: He was horrified when he visited the library a couple of months ago because most of the shelves were filled with books n small numbers and most of the books had been thrown out of libraries.
Reference to the Context
1) The author says, “I was not a good pupil, but I was a good listener.” Justify it with the textual evidences.
Ans: The author says, “I was not a good pupil, but I was a good listener.” In the text, we find that the author disliked passive reading in formal schools because he was an active reader and self learner. He was a good student in libraries and enjoyed reading whatever book he wanted. He didn’t care much about the information received in the class. For him, teachers’ instructions in the class seemed to go in his one ear and out by the other. He was not a good pupil in the sense that he didn’t pay attention to the information conveyed by his teachers. Similarly, he was a good listener in the sense that he listened to the teachers without making noise.
2) A proverb says, “Nothing is pleasanter than exploring a library.” Does this proverb apply in the essay? Explain.
Ans: The given proverb, “Nothing is pleasanter than exploring a library” is quite appropriate for the essay “On Libraries”. Nothing is more satisfying than reading a book in library with a literal companion. Oliver Sacks was a bookworm who used to spend a lot of time in different libraries in different places. He disliked school, sitting in class, receiving instruction; information seemed to go in one ear and out by the other. He had to be active, learn for himself, learn what he wanted, and in the way which suited him best. So he roamed the shelves and stacks of the libraries, had the freedom to select whatever he wanted. His book reading started from his own library at home. All of his family members loved reading books and he was grown up in that environment. The oak-paneled library at his own home was his favourite room. Instead of going to formal school, he preferred to read freely in the library. He especially enjoyed the library environment and the quiet companions of other readers. Best of all, he wants to sit at the library table with a pile of books in front of him. Therefore, he said that he was not a good pupil, but was a good listener who explored different libraries to gain knowledge for his own academic excellence. Hence the above proverb fits for this essay.
3. Are there any other services that you would like to see added to the library?
Ans: Yes, there are some other services that I would like to see added to the library. I would prefer different rooms for different age groups such as child, adults and aged people because they prefer books most likely of their interest with their age. The elders may like to read environment, nature, culture etc., the aged people may like to read books related to politics, ethics, philosophy etc. and the kids would like to read stories, comics etc. The other thing I would to see added in the library is surveillance camera. Many people tear the books or even take with them due to which other readers are affected. Hence to prevent these bad activities on library, surveillance camera should be fitted. Good furniture to read books on is also an essential thing to be added to the library. Readers may feel bored reading on the tables. So, a small garden in the backyard of the library may be useful to remove the reader’s tiredness. I would also like to see a cafe added to the library because peoples who love reading long hours in the library may get hungry, then they can enjoy reading by eating something, which can quench their hunger. These are the certain services that I would like to see added to the library.
Reference Beyond the Text
1. Write an essay on Libraries and its uses for students.
Ans: A library is a place where books and sources of information are stored. The library makes people easier to get access for various purposes. Libraries are very helpful and economical too. They include books, magazines, newspapers etc. Many schools, colleges and universities have their own libraries. There are also some public libraries. The public libraries are open to everyone to enhance their knowledge and complete their research. They are run by the government, clubs or any organizations. Libraries play a vital role in providing people with reliable content.
Libraries are a great platform for the students. When students get homework in class, the libraries help them with the reference material. It is helpful for the overall development of students. Libraries help the students who cannot afford expensive books and resources to read and obtain information. Students with poor economic status can easily get educational knowledge from libraries. Students can develop their habits of reading and learning through the use of the library. Students can get a chance to read in a fine educational environment in the library. Libraries also facilitate access to digital resources and the internet. Students can have multiple opportunities to secure varieties of knowledge by using libraries. By using libraries, students can easily develop their concentration levels. They can easily focus their minds on subject matter for a long time without feeling bored. Students can easily get varieties of solutions to their problems. With the help of various resources, they become able to develop their creative ability. Students can use computers and the internet in the libraries to complete their research projects.
Thus, the libraries are a kind of blessing for all the students who are struggling in the field of education. Libraries can really help the students who require education. In other words, libraries are the ocean of knowledge and information for the students. They are beneficial for the students in many ways.
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