Public libraries and basic facilities

Sir,

Apropos your report on the dues owed by MCC and MUDA to the Library Department and the two letters (SOM dated Dec. 24 and 26) stressing the need to strengthen the public libraries, I wish to join the issue from the user point of view.

While I agree with the general view that public libraries are to be supported and appreciated for their role, it begs for basic facilities and amenities for this to happen. I wish to highlight a few of them as a user of public library nearby.

1. There is no telephone facility at each centre, for the public to enquire if a certain wanted book, CD, newspaper, periodical etc., is available. There is only one landline phone at the Central Library on Sayyaji Rao Road. When the whole world is using cell phones for a whole lot of services, why is the Library Department shy of adopting?

2. Drinking water and toilet facilities are lacking at many branches. Even when a facility exists it is not maintained for regular use.

3. Space is a big constraint. This applies to both books storage and user convenience. Ventilation is another factor. Movement of furniture and the sound it produces is irksome. Lighting is poor.

4. I have not seen a computerised catalogue of available books, back volumes, etc. Hence one cannot easily ascertain if a particular book is available or not. I hope at least a card based index with racks and alphabetical indexation, very basic to any library, is made available. In today’s digital era this is clearly an outdated system.

5. Inter-branch lending of books, I am told, does not exist. This means, if I become a member of a local library branch, my access to book loan is only limited to what is available in that branch.

I have tried to list a few of the basic facilities lacking in our city libraries. These basic facilities are not lacking because of dues from MCC and MUDA being held up. It is lacking from the beginning in the planning itself. Is a landline phone at each centre for enquiries waiting for funds for all these years?

My appeal is that while the cess collected specially for libraries by MCC is unjustly held up, devolution of funds, when they become available should be judiciously done to create the basic facilities.

Last, but not the least, it should be kept in mind that all over the world, usage of libraries in conventional form is declining. Fast spreading of internet and availability of most information at just a click, makes indiscriminate expansion of libraries a waste of public money. There is no point in buying books for the sake of keeping libraries and all kinds of authors just going.

– Prof. B.S. Shankara (retd.), Mysuru, 27.12.2018

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