10 facts about books and libraries of the world which will make you raise your eyebrow

‘Reading books turns ordinary into extraordinary’ – the significance of this proverb is known to the people who consider books as their friends.

Books are our best friend. They are the greatest company one can ever have.

If you are a parent and your child is in the company of books then you can assure yourself that he/she is proceeding towards a good future.

Books build knowledge, and believe it or not, knowledge brings power and happiness. Moreover, your mind gets accustomed to grasping many things in a very short amount of time.

Since I am talking about the importance of books here, it would be unfair if I didn’t tell you a real incident which has affected me deeply.

During the first year of my new job, I stayed in an apartment which was on the 3^rd floor of an independent building with a very small compound. There would be a guard at the gate, always greeting residents going in or out of the compound with a smile.

It was a regular activity for him and just like other residents I would reciprocate with a smile too, and go on with my life.

After a few days, I saw him reading newspaper and  when he would see a person passing in front of him he would stand-up, greet him or her, sit down again and get engrossed in the newspaper again.

But it didn’t catch mine or anyone else’s attention in the first place then.

He would do this daily and suddenly after a couple of months I observed him reading a book.

 To a guy like me that was phenomenal. I could not resist approaching him at that moment.

He greeted me like always with a grin and his body language changed to “I am all ears”.

“What you are you doing today with a book?”, I asked

“Reading”, he replied innocently.

I made a fool of myself asking that question; obviously he was reading. There could have been better ways of expressing surprise.

“I mean, every day I have seen you reading a newspaper, why book today?”, I framed my question differently.

“Actually, I have come to know from a very reliable friend of mine that reading books can make your life better, so I am just trying out, first few days I got myself acquainted with reading through newspaper. Now I think I can read a book”, he replied enthusiastically.

I could say nothing as I was totally amazed at his spirit.  Like I always do, I suggested him a few more books and went on.

Days passed, months passed and practically most of the time I saw him with a book in his hand.

After a year and a half, on a drenched monsoon morning, the door bell of my apartment rang. 

When I opened the door, he was standing with a box of sweets and I could see happiness spilling out of his eyes.

“Sir! Got a job that pays 3 times better as a junior assistant of a journalist in the city’s popular magazine.”, he spoke with tremendous joy.

“It required very minimum qualifications but they were very impressed by my knowledge and the way of presentation.” he continued speaking.

I was very happy at his success; his 'reading of books' coupled with his hard work had paid off.  He bid adieu that very day and left for his new job.

I was wondering at the role the books played in his life. He just picked one at a time and kept reading it consistently.  He grew as a person, as a human and achieved success he deserved.

Also read : 10 amazing, rarely known facts about India that will fill you with surprise and pride

Such is the importance of books!

And to make the respect, one should have for books, more robust this post will do the job of presenting facts about books and libraries around the world to you such that you get more informed and increase your knowledge.

Isn’t it amazing that you borrow a book from a city and return in some other city? Wouldn’t it be nice if you wanted to read a very expensive book during your train travel from New Delhi to Mumbai in which you borrow it in New Delhi, finish reading it during your train journey and return it in Mumbai? 

This is a book widely known from children to elderly listing world’s records, shining achievements of people, and wonders. I was also amazed to know that it is the most stolen book from public libraries of the United States.

The purpose of stealing is not known but may be somebody is trying to list him or her in this book for stealing it maximum number of times.

A dilemma has always surrounded us which came first in the world ‘Hen or Egg’, well I cannot answer it even but I am quite sure that St Catherine Monastery, better known as Sacred Monastery of the God-Trodden Mount Sinai is the oldest library of the world in the at the foot of a deserted mountain in the Sinai district of Egypt.

Can you imagine what must have been the vision of the architect who constructed this library around 217 years ago that nothing as big as the national library has ever been constructed?  If you unfold all its book shelves then it will start from Mumbai and end slightly ahead of Goa.

A village of just 1500 people and the library carries around a million books. This is a heritage site in India which must be recognized with pride. There are a large number of scholars who visit this library regularly every year.

Adeline Virginia Woolf was a British Author popular for a lot of novels. But very few people know that she was occupied by mental illness which intensified sporadically. 
Whether it was her illness or her penchant that she wrote all her books standing is a question left unanswered.

Well, the typewriter was invented by 4 Americans in 1868 but the real use of it for writing a novel that became hugely popular and is popular till date was done by Mark Twain after 8 years in 1876.

Read : 6 influential people of the world & the books they read

Rudyard Kipling gave all of us his remarkable work of fiction ‘The Jungle Book’. It is surely a thing that everyone remembers from his childhood. But even the greatest thinker will find it difficult to answer that his obituary mail was a mere coincidence or a genuine prophecy.

I don’t know why but knowing that a thing as big as Harry Potter started from a napkin gives me an adrenaline rush. After this I have also started writing my ideas on paper tissues (which I bought exclusively for this purpose :)

To add to it, this book comes from the state of Tamil Nadu, from the city of Quilon.

Wrap Up

So if you are a voracious reader or a beginner or someone who is looking forward to developing a passion of reading, these facts are certainly going to add value to the love of books inside you.

And, after reading this post and the first episode you certainly know 20 more facts than others who haven’t read them, don’t you?

Well I look forward to your answers in the comments section. 

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