Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Universities should give the same amount of money to their students’ sports activities as they give to their university libraries.

From my perspective, I strongly disagree with the idea that students’ sports activities and university libraries should be funded equally. Of course, the importance of sport for student is indisputable, but it cannot be the main priority of a university education.

First and foremost, library is the most important part of a university. A university may not have a stadium, there is no university without a library. Students gain their knowledge mainly through libraries. The time in class is very limited. Teachers just give methods, comments, and sources of knowledge. Students have to study and research these sources by themselves, outside of class. There is no appropriate place study than at a library. It provides student convenience with huge collections of book and a large amount of modern learning tools. Indeed, libraries are indispensable to both schools and students.

Second, libraries system are not only the most important but also the costliest part of a university. Today, in a information society, the students’ demand for information is great. It requires libraries to update their facilities continuously. These facilities include many high-tech tools and equipment. It costs a large number of capital to buy these things. In addition, almost university libraries allow students to stay late to study especially in examination period. A significant finances must be used to pay staffs working at night. For these reasons, a strong budget is needed to maintain and develop libraries.

Last but not least, spending the same amount of money on sports actives as on libraries, universities face the risk of decline of prestige. Budget of a university is not limitless. Dividing money equally to sports and to libraries means giving less money to libraries than usual. As a result, the research and study activities will be affected. If the education quality of a university decreases, it will become less attractive in the eyes of prospective students and their parents. The prestige of a university depends on quality of education and research instead of sport records.

All in all, what students need the most in their college education is academic knowledge. Sports is needed, but it is always the secondary concern in financial policies. Therefore, the first priority is to invest in academic facilities especially libraries other than in sport activities.