HOW much do you know or remember about libraries? I adore them and try my best to visit one each time I spend more than just a few days in any developed foreign city. If you're like me, you might even vaguely remember that the name "Dewey" has some bearing on how all modern libraries stock the shelves of their various sections.
While the rise of the Internet has seemingly diluted the importance of paper-based physical books, the value of libraries as repositories of human knowledge and wisdom, and as enablers of steady advancement, has never been in doubt.
The twin roles of libraries as precious repositories and powerful enablers received a massive boost when a standardised cataloguing system gained traction worldwide.
The 19th century American librarian Melvil Dewey (pronounced "dyu-wee") will forever be remembered as the genius who created the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), which is more commonly referred to as the Dewey Decimal System (DDS). It is the standard system for cataloguing books in public and academic libraries around the world.
Dewey created this now ubiquitous system in 1873 and rolled it out three years later in 1876 — (incidentally the United States' 100th year of independence from the British) and auspiciously the year that Dewey co-founded the ALA or the American Library Association.
The 10 major groupings or classes under the DDC or DDS are:
000 — Computer science, information and general works
100 — Philosophy and psychology
200 — Religion
300 — Social sciences
400 — Language
500 — Science
600 — Technology
700 — Arts and recreation
800 — Literature
900 — History and geography
Dewey is the source of a declaration that should be the bedrock of our current K- or knowledge-economy: "Knowledge is power, and libraries are the fortresses where that power is stored."
IMPORTANCE OF READING
Of course, today's powerful web browsers in tandem with search engines have vastly expanded the idea of a library to include resources in the cloud and across seemingly infinite cyberspace.
Nonetheless, as Malaysia falls behind some other developing nations in student proficiency of STEM subjects — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — largely because of misguided policies that squandered our once superior grasp of English, there is a lot that proactive parents can do to boost their children's affinity for these subjects… in public libraries.
To start with, check out the books in the 500s and 600s. That vast span will help you guide your kids, and perhaps yourself, to STEM knowledge that's vital for personal success in the modern world.
To boost proficiency in the global lingua franca, English, start exploring texts in the 420 range, and then branch out to the 810s and 820s for American literature in English and English literature, respectively.
Apart from science, technology, engineering, mathematics and English, attention should also be paid to economics (330), while books on personal finance, financial planning, and investing are in the expansions of the 332 sequence.
It's been observed in many societies that readers tend to think more than non-readers. And thinking is the wellspring of ideas; however, reading is the catalyst for most fresh thoughts.
The French philosopher, scientist and mathematician René Descartes once observed: "The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of the past centuries."
There's no disputing Descartes' observation. More prosaically, as you yourself have undoubtedly observed throughout the long or short decades of your life, thus far, that it's the successful implementation of ideas coupled with economic common sense and the capacity to delay gratification that usually leads to runaway financial success.
DEEPEN YOUR KNOWLEDGE
In our normal life, most of us initiate countless online searches each day for the rapid extraction of needed information, such as identifying a great restaurant. However, deep knowledge of how to create delicious recipes or run a profitable eatery, is still initiated most often from deep reading of — usually fat — books (or ebooks) followed by long practice and implementation.
So, for a lifetime of deepening knowledge and, hopefully, fattening bank accounts, read and reread the absolute best books in your field you can lay your hands on. Gradually build up your own library. But before that, if you get the chance to visit a well-stocked public library, do so.
It was 19th century steel magnate Andrew Carnegie (and the wealthiest person on Earth at the start of the 20th century) who declared: "A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people. It is a never failing spring in the desert."
In a world where a veritable pandemic of despair is affecting billions of disillusioned people, young and old, the capacity for great books to do grand things for good people remains boundless.
So, most of us should begin by visiting libraries and allowing the reading bug to take a hold of us.
We should then gradually, affordably, yet passionately, build our personal libraries — one precious book at a time. For, you see, often it is only when we repeatedly lose ourselves in our favourite books that we detect and unearth our loftiest callings.
© 2024 Rajen Devadason
Rajen Devadason, CFP, is a securities commission-licensed Financial Planner, professional speaker and author. Read his free articles at www.FreeCoolArticles.com; he may be connected with on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/rajendevadason, or via rajen@RajenDevadason.com. You may also follow him on Twitter @Rajen Devadason and on YouTube (Rajen Devadason).