Dist Library to digitise records to lure back readers

Tribune News Service

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Amritsar, July 26

One of the two public libraries in the city, the District Library, has a sprawling space with over 50,000 books, yet it struggles to find members or readers, despite ongoing efforts to make the library digital. The lone staffer at the library, Prabhjyot Sandhu, who is the librarian, says though the efforts are being made to keep digital records of most books housed at the library, the shortage of staff and funds pinch a lot.

Despite enjoying the distinction of having the maximum collection of books, the District Library struggles to get new readers enrolled. Its current member strength stands somewhere around 1,600 and even those who are its lifetime members have stopped coming to the library. “The library doesn’t have updated versions of books, no e-books and even books that are available are not in a good condition,” says BM Singh, one of the members of the District Library. Another issue is lack of staff, “Besides the librarian and another helper, there is no specialised staff available to keep a track or maintain the massive collection of books,” he says.

According to the data provided by Prabhjyot Sandhu, lack of resources has resulted in the low turnout of readers. “I have been here for the past 10 years and I find that there is a need to create better facilities for readers. It becomes difficult to maintain a record for 50,000 books and the state has so far been apathetic to our condition. Libraries should be a thriving literary community.” She says the process to digitise the records is on and will soon be implemented.