ICT : LIBRARY EXPERIENCE

One fine winter morning, there was an alarming amount of smog which had
covered the campus. Nothing could be seen in the thick cover. The air was so
poisonous that it was advised to stay indoors. I decided to break the monotony
and the darkness which had crept in the room in which I was taking refuge, and
hence made a short trip to the library. Walking through the dense smog, I
could hear babbling of voices all around me, chaotic whispers, a few giggles
here and there, and thus prided myself on making the right decision to visit
the library. As I entered the huge room, the commotion I just witnessed was
subdued by a serene and quiet environment. The heaviness of the smog and
chatters outside was replaced by the lightness of the silence within. For a few
seconds, I stood still and let my eyes meander across the many shelves and the
enormous books kept intact. I was amazed at the stillness of the place, with no
movements and no noise at all. I sat down, and decided to make use of this
time. Seeing the amount of books stacked here, I decided to read one. I quickly
surveyed “goodreads” and picked up a dark, murder mystery novel and it
matched with the general mood and gloomy environment outside. I had no
clue as to how to search for a book among the thousands of books, and hence
sought help from the librarian. My sudden request to teach me how to find a
book had surely made him irritable as it intervened in his indulgence of sipping
his hot coffee and crouching on the seat lazily. He went to the computer and
taught me to use the library catalogue and to figure out the code number and
then, search the rack which had the particular code range and ultimately pick
the book from there. It seemed quite a tedious process to me, however, in the
quest to find my “Agatha crsitie” book, I had felt something strange. As my
eyes were scanning the shelves, I started envying the books kept there. I too
wanted to live like them, in complete silence. Humans, who just need one
more of their own and then their gossip never ends are so unlike these books.
These books were surrounded by so many of their own, yet, they were oblivion
to their presence, and stayed in complete silence. It felt as if, each book was
yearning to say something, to tell their story. It was as they were crying to me
for help and asking me to patiently hear what they want to share. I could not
leave them behind and not listen to what they had to say and hence after
picking up my book, I personally ensured the books, that I’ll be back soon, and
promised each of them that they’ll have a friend to whom they will share all
their bottled up stories and emotions. With this promise, I went out with my
book, and hurried my way past the crowd and its ever growing noise, to my
room and started listening to what this book had to share !