“Books and friends should be few but good,” says an English proverb.

“Except a living man there is nothing more wonderful than a book! It teaches us and opens its heart to us as a brother,” wrote Charles Kingsley, an English writer of the 19th century. The book is certainly a friend and a teacher. We learn many things by reading books. Books theach people to live. After reading some books it is easy to understand what should be done and what must not be done. There are books which help pupils with their lessons.

In general books can be divided into two main groups: fiction and non-fiction. Fiction books contain made-up stories, non-fiction books are books that give facts.

In ancient times books were written by hand and few copies were made. Sometimes several men were needed to copy a book as the work was slow. For many years the number of books in the world was very small. Only a few people had copies of them to read and study.

The invention of printing changed a lot in history. Printing played a very important role in the development of culture, science and literature.

Today there are many thousands of public libraries in Ukraine.

Librarians are always ready to help people to find a book on any subject. Those who know how to use the catalogue can find a book and needn’t consult the librarian.

Conferences, exhibitions and other events take place in libraries. Thematic selections of books are prepared beforehand to help the visitors develop their reading preferences.

Many libraries have reading rooms and the rooms equipped with computers to give the opportunity to work with the internet. Some libraries have a room where students learning a foreign language can have practice in speaking and listening.