Books, even in this age of cheap literature, cost money？ The shortage of paper, together w

ith the high cost of living, has made books an expensive item in our list of requirements. This would mean that fewer people can afford to have them. Yet there are people who think nothing of spending money on a rich dinner, but don’t like to spend the same sum on books. Therefore the time has come for a new public library policy to be introduced, for the higher the price of books the greater the need to give them the widest circulation possible.

The Hong Kong Government has set up Urban (城市的) Council Libraries and study rooms in various districts. There is no doubt that when books are Wisely selected, they have a great education- al value, and have done much to encourage the habit of reading among the people.

For setting up libraries, some factors should be taken into consideration. In the first place, it is not enough to have just a building, equip it with shelves and fill them with books. The library building itself must be attractive in structure, desirable in atmosphere, and uncumbered in administration. Then secondly, there is the choice of suitable books to look into. This presents difficulties: though most of the books are novels and most of the readers are novel-readers, moreover, reading fiction is quite a source of amusement and pleasure. Also, it is a means of broadening one’s mind and learning more about life and human being. Yet, there should always be a good selection of serious books--history, biography, travel, poetry and literature--which are appreciated by many readers.

According to this passage, some people ______.

A．give less consideration to books than food

B．can hardly afford time to read books

C．know nothing about the value of education

D．should have spent more money on daily needs