If I had to choose, the one thing I miss the most about my high school years is the sense of community that accompanied the local town library. The library wasn't a prison where people would stay to do work; it was a haven where I could spend time and volunteer, check out books to read for fun, meet new friends, and make a difference in my community. I think in all colleges today, the library has been reduced to a symbol of work and productivity. Although I'm grateful to attend a school with such a study-positive attitude, I question the future of libraries and their purpose for students.

Recently, I attended a session to learn how to write a research paper and how to acquire scholarly articles online. The presenter of the talk asked my class what the entire purpose of the third floor was for, and not a single person besides myself knew that it contained all of the reference books. This really made me wonder: if we don't even know where the reference books are for our scholarly work, is recreational reading even a possibility anymore?

I know that programs at my college library can't really exist in the same ways as they did at my town library; they're two different types of libraries by nature. Yet, I still feel as though college libraries should have a greater presence on campuses than simply a place to do work. Through better advertising and communications, more students would know about special archival events being presented in the library. I went to a presentation about Shakespeare's original writings in my college's library once, and I loved it. Or perhaps college libraries can recruit student volunteers to organize programs to promote literacy in the surrounding community or host book-to-movie film screenings.

In the William K. Sanford Town Library where I spent most of my childhood and teenage years, I was able to volunteer and organize amazing and fun programs, step up as a leader in my community with librarians as mentors, tutor younger students, and spend lazy days in the summer checking out any books that I wanted. I was able to compete in poetry contests, enjoy students' artwork on display, and receive creative help about my college essays. And, yes, I was able to study and be productive when I needed to, but never was it the sole reason why I needed to go to the library. It was through volunteering that I found my purpose in life, and it was through reading that I found who I wanted to be as a writer and as an individual.

I suppose what I'm really trying to say is that I'm sick of feeling as though I walk through shelves and shelves of books to my cubicle, sometimes recognizing a book once or twice, but never having the time to read one for fun because of how much time my classwork takes up. How am I spending so many hours per week in a library and never really appreciating the books, the very bones that comprise the building in its entirety?

Students today should definitely think about what the library means to them now in light of everything it meant to them when they were young. Only then can we start to think about how important it truly is for community building and promoting literacy, and only then can we realize how strongly we need to protect our libraries in the future. Will technology and digital books replace the written, printed word? Will we as a society ever forget what a decades-old book smells like and what the crisp pages feel like against our fingers? I don't think so.