Library

A library is a magnificent place that contains a large collection of books and also provides services to people. Libraries started to pop up in Europe and America in the 18th and 19th centuries but, before the 18th century, they were used by the Greeks, Romans, North African people and Middle Eastern people. Nowadays, we can find different types of libraries in almost all countries around the world. Back home, in Eritrea, there are many libraries just like here, in Canada. However, they differ in the type and quality of services they provide.

The types of libraries that are found in Eritrea are primarily school libraries, public libraries and college libraries. In Eritrea, most of the schools in cities and towns have libraries. These libraries, funded by schools, provide academic books to the students. School libraries are open only during school days. Students can use the libraries for free and they can borrow books to take home.

There are not many public libraries in Eritrea. You can find maybe one or two public libraries in each big city. These public libraries provide services to people for free and are funded by the government. They offer different types of books (academic and non-academic) and also have newspapers and magazines available. Public libraries in Eritrea do not provide Wi-Fi or free Internet access. In some public libraries, you can find a few personal computers that have Internet access, but you have to pay if you want to use these computers.

So far, in Canada, I have only visited public libraries, which provide numerous amazing services to the whole community. For example, they provide books (both academic and non-academic) and other resources like CDs, DVDs, and personal computers. They also provide programs and services like homework clubs for students, activities for young children, workshops about employment, health and more, as well as free Wi-Fi. They also offer services to help you find a job, which is totally absent in most Eritrean libraries. One thing I found that the libraries in these two very different countries have in common is the librarians, the people who work in the library. They are very nice, friendly, hard workers and willing to help you with whatever they can if you ask for their help.

In conclusion, even though they do not provide high quality services, many people go to libraries in Eritrea because they do not have any other way of accessing the Internet or Wi-Fi as the government does not allow Eritrean citizens to have Wi-Fi or Internet in their homes. I cannot even begin to explain how important and helpful the libraries in Eritrea are for people, especially for students. People in Eritrea know this and frequently use libraries.