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Question
Some people think the public library is necessary, ; however, others believe that the public library is Commented [DW1]: The two instances here of “the public
useless. library is” would almost certain appear in IELTS as “public
libraries are.”
Express your opinion and provide some relevant examples. Commented [DW2]: This is not an IELTS question word.
Instead, a real question would say “discuss both views.”
Answer
The question of whether the public library is necessary or useless is simply the one that defines how
we treat people in general. In my opinion, every library is a temple dedicated to human progress and Commented [DW3]: Good idiomatic language.
the public library should in no way be exempted from that rule.

I agree that books, in general, are not as popular as they used to be in the past. Furthermore, one
simply cannot deny the fact that technological progress and mass media effects have changed the Commented [DW4]: This began in the past and continues
way how people perceive knowledge and where to look for it. Hence the argument that today no now, so present perfect is the right tense.
one even has time to read, not to mention tonever mind actually go to the public library. For this Commented [DW5]: You don’t need both “way” and
reason, one can argue their practical use in this day and age and openly raise a the question of why “how.” They mean the same thing here.
whether shouldn`t we turn themthey should be turned into bars, supermarkets or gyms? Commented [DW6]: We usually use this expression for
positive phrases rather than negative ones.
On the other hand, I am confident that the public library is more than just a place to go to read
Commented [DW7]: I changed a negative question into a
something. Even though the time of smartphones and tablets is well upon us, there is something positive one to make it more appropriate.
special about going into the a room full of books, written by the people who have shaped our way of
Commented [DW8]: It is just one possible room out of
life. Indeed, in each and every city, the public library is a symbol of humanity’s relationship with its many.
cultural heritage. It is undoubtedly not just a place where the knowledge is being stored, but rather a
Commented [DW9]: This is on-going.
sign of our determination to preserve it.
Commented [DW10]: We rarely can say “the knowledge.”
In my view, the public library is still an absolute necessity in every community. In other words, it is
not just a building where one can find a book, but rather a place of inspiration, peace, and wisdom. Commented [DW11]: This is the Oxford comma, which I
recommend using.

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Notes
Task Achievement
This question is not a genuine IELTS exam question. It has most likely been written by someone who
is not a native English speaker, and as such it contains some mistakes. Although it is similar to real
IELTS questions, and practicing non-authentic questions is still worthwhile, you must be careful. Fake
questions tend to contain poor English, which you may repeat in your essay. If the question is
written in an unusual style, it may also cause you to answer real IELTS questions in inappropriate
ways. In future, I suggest you pick your questions from the Cambridge series of books or else my
own list of questions: https://ted-ielts.com/ielts-writing-questions/

This summarizing sentence from paragraph three was beautiful: “It is undoubtedly not just a place
where the knowledge is being stored, but rather a sign of our determination to preserve it.” It is very
intelligent and also quite a well-written idea.

Coherence and Cohesion

Your essay was great and you have used paragraphing and referencing quite well, but there is one
thing that affects CC and might stop you from scoring very highly. Your sentences all start in pretty
similar ways. These are learned IELTS writing structures (mostly conjunctive adverbs) and they give
the essay a slightly artificial, disjointed feel. It is not a major issue but be careful to vary your
language and do not over-use cohesive devices. See here for more: https://ted-ielts.com/cohesive-
devices-ielts-writing/

Lexical Resource
You had some really nice, natural language here, much of which was idiomatic. I liked the accurate
use of “every library is a temple dedicated to human progress” and “the time of ___ is well upon us.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy

When you want to introduce an issue and you use the word “question,” you should then follow it
with “of” such as in this example from your first sentence: “The question of whether…”

In your second paragraph, you wrote, “mass media effects have changed the way how people
perceive knowledge.” I explained in the margin that “how” and “way” share the same meaning here.
We can basically use either:

• The internet has changed the way that we make friends. (more formal)
• The internet has changed how we make friends. (less formal)

At the end of that paragraph, you said, “raise a the question” but the article was not right. In this
case, you propose a single type of question; therefore, we can only use “the.” If it was one of many
possible questions, we could say “a.” For example:

• He was asked the question he dreaded most. (= there is only one)

• He was asked a question he dreaded. (= it is one out of several/many)

Estimated Band Score

Section Grade
Task Achievement 8
Coherence and Cohesion 8
Lexical Resource 8
Grammatical Range and Accuracy 7
Total 7.5

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Sample Band 9 Answer

Libraries are no longer as important as they used to be. Once upon a time, any major research
problem was solved at the library, and many people even went there for entertainment. However,
now their popularity has declined and some say that they are no longer important. This essay will
look at both sides and suggest that libraries still have some purpose.

Those who say that libraries are now out-dated claim that the internet has completely replaced
them by providing virtually all of the information known to humanity for free. Moreover, rather than
going to a special building, that free information is available in your pocket. This is a very good point;
however, it overlooks the fact that not all information is in fact online, and certainly not all that is
online is trustworthy.

Libraries are places where information has been professionally collected and organized, making it
easy to find. The information gathered here is assembled into books and journals that have been
peer-reviewed and are therefore more trustworthy than a blog post or YouTube video. If it is
verifiable facts that you want, the library is far more reliable than searching the internet. Libraries
also have vast archives of local data that are not available online, and so if you are doing specialized
research, a trip to the library can prove invaluable.

In conclusion, it may seem reasonable to suggest that libraries are no longer important, having been
supplanted by the internet, but they still in fact have some important qualities that make them
necessary.

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Extra Materials
The resources on this page are provided to everyone that uses my writing correction service. These
are some things that I think will be useful to most of you.

List of Questions
If you are looking to do more IELTS practice, you can find a large list of questions here. There are
many fake questions online but these ones are realistic.

A Beginner’s Guide
I have written a guide to IELTS for people who are unfamiliar with the test or who struggle to score
more than band 6. This guide will help you find many useful resources.

The Right Number of Words

How many words should you write for IELTS? For task 1, you should at least 150 and for task 2 it
should be at least 250. But why? What is the ideal word count? Find out here.

Mastering Structure
Structuring an IELTS essay can seem like a challenge at first. You should look at this guide to figure
out how best to do it.

General Training Task 1

What is IELTS GT? Find out here. To find out everything about writing the perfect letter, see here.

Academic Training Task 1

I write many articles about IELTS writing task 1 at my website. You might find these guides useful:
bar charts, process diagrams. You can also find a complete guide here.

Grammar
I find that most people struggle with English grammar when training for IELTS. I have many grammar
guides available on my website, such as these ones:

• Prepositions
• Commas
• Sentence types

If you need extra help with grammar, I find this website to be quite useful. You can also try the BBC
grammar page.

Books & Courses

Finally, if you are looking for more IELTS material, you might like the 3 books that I have written.
They are available for sale here. I also have a free course on my website here.

Checklist
Task 1
Is it at least 150 words?
Have you written 2-5 paragraphs?
Check for spelling errors.
Is it in the correct register?
Look for common grammar errors.
Cohesive devices not under/over-used.
Have you fully described the data?
Task 2
Is it at least 250 words?
Have you written 4-5 paragraphs?
Check for spelling errors.
Make sure it is formal.
Look for common grammar errors.
Cohesive devices not under/over-used.
Have you fully answered the question?