It is not possible to get something for free in a country like the United States. Despite the heavy tax collection, treatment items are expensive here, and nothing is free. The United States is an expensive country compared to Europe. And many European countries provide free services to the public. In which education, electricity, food, and daily expenses. But in the United States, you will get two things for free.
- Free education for up to 12 classes
- Numerous free libraries, Reading Spaces, Books Store
There are few bookstores in the United States. But libraries in the US are very common, you feel that this is a tradition to read books in libraries. There are numerous public libraries in every city, where the public can easily go to any library without any hindrance.
If we talk about Lahore, it is a city in Pakistan that has all the facilities, tall buildings, big gardens, and good educational institutions.
Lahore has a population of over 1 crore. And there are only five libraries in the city. If compared to the United States, Lahore should have at least more than 5000 libraries in terms of its large population. But there is a huge difference between the resources of the United States and Pakistan. Yet Lahore is a city that is looked down upon all over Pakistan for its resources or for development. People in other provinces and cities complain that the money of other cities is also used in Lahore. Lahore with a population of over 1 crore. It has only five libraries. Surprisingly, the five libraries that exist in Lahore also date back to before Pakistan’s independence. It means govt of Pakistan just built flyers or roads but not any govt based library. that is why this country and nation is dying in darkness after day by day. So Peoples use the Libraries of universities, but it does not fulfill their real needs, the specific university just allowed its own university students. The general public or outsiders are not allowed. This means that no work has been done to make the people and the nation aware of the so-called development that has taken place in Lahore. Not a single new library has been built in Lahore. The population of Pakistan is around 220 million. Based on this, there should be more than 2 lakh libraries in Pakistan.
Right now it is just a Lahore city in Pakistan. If research is done on the subject of libraries in all the cities of Pakistan, then it is possible to find many such villages and towns where the people and the library have no contact or relation with each other.
In Pakistan, people’s interest in buying books, and their interest in buying and reading books, or going to libraries, is completely gone. It is a moment of reflection for a nation when a nation turns away from something like a book and rejoices in its alternatives.
If people have lost interest in reading a book. So the biggest reason behind this is that the book is not readily available. The government should set up book stalls in every district and tehsil and allocate space for reading books. In Europe and other Western countries, not only are you provided with a book but you are also provided with a quiet environment to read a book. But there is no place in Pakistan where a student or an elderly person can read a book.
Not only is there a shortage of libraries in Pakistan but there is also a shortage of buying and selling books and bookstores inside Pakistan.
If anyone in Pakistan needs a special book or a book written by an English author or an old book or any rare book, then the people have to turn to Lahore. If a city like the United States has worked solely on education and the easy provision of books, isn’t there a clear difference between their power and morals?
Can we as human beings think today that not only is there a lack of books in our country, but there is also a lack of necessary resources?
The United States is taxing its citizens and providing them with expensive things. But he is giving them free education and easy access to books. Can’t the government of Pakistan take such a step that all students, men, women, and children, inside Pakistan can be easily provided with the blessing of a book?
-Muhammad Ali Khan
