Swati Priya
Dhanbad State Library, situated near the town hall of the city is waiting for a librarian since 2000.The public library which was inaugurated by Dr. Jagannath Mishra, former Chief Minister, on Sep. 26th 1980, neither has a book binder nor a peon. The care taker of the library is Mr. Sanjay Kumar Bakshi, the Shorter, who has a bachelor degree in Library and Information Science from IGNOU.He alone manages all the work right from the official to the issuing of books along with the gardener, Mr. Umapati Reddy.The library has more than 32700 books related to Philosophy, Psychology, Social Science, Political Science, Literature, Biographies, World History etc.These books are supplied by Raja Ram Mohan Roy Library Foundation, Kolkata.A number of dailies and weeklies like The Hindu, The Telegraph, Hindustan, Prabhat khabar, Panchjanya, Employment news and competitive magazines like Pratiyogita Kiran and Pratiyogita Darpan are a part of the library’s collection. It remains open everyday except Sunday and government holidays.Though 3100 people are members of this library, it has got the capacity of 75-100 persons only. Mostly, students preparing for competitive examinations come and study here. There has not been any renovation since 2003 in the double-storeyed building. The tables and chairs have grown old and need repairs desperately.The controlling authority of the library is the District Education Officer who rarely visits there.Mr.Rajiv, a member of the library, who works in SBI, says, “It feels good to come and study here as the environment is very good and peaceful but the facilities are less, and the shorter only can not manage everything properly.”The shorter said that it was difficult for him to manage all the official work alone. Further he added that the library inspite of having computer and printer couldn’t be modernized as it had not got anyone who could operate them.The Jharkhand Government should look towards it and at least it should invite applications for a librarian so that the library may work smoothly.
writer is a journalism student.
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