Kuala Lampur, Dec. 15 -- Of all the departments in an educational institution, the library has to be the most paradoxical one.

It's because that's the place where people go to read books and do research, right? But the key thing any visitor to a library inside a Malaysian university will realise within five minutes of entering it is that people hardly "read books" in these places anymore.

Today a library is more like a multi-purpose commons.

A library nowadays is where students go to "chill", to spend three hours checking their WhatsApp or post photos on Instagram or, okay, even do some work on their devices.

Does this make the library look like your average Starbucks outlet? Absolutely.

If the campus has a paucity of space for stude...