PU Extension Library: A treasure trove of books

The Panjab University Extension Library at Fountain Chowk here is a treasure of books for every section of society — students, aspirants preparing for Civil Services or other examinations, and those interested in religion etc. A visit to the library shows that with limited resources, much is being done to help those who love reading.

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There are about 2,000 members of the Extension Library of PU, Chandigarh. The library has over 1.80 lakh books, including journals, books on various subjects such as English, Punjabi and Hindi literature, psychology, political science, medical, accounts, maths, sociology, science, environment etc. The literature here includes American, English and German. It is a real treasure, which is not easily available — and if available, the prices are exorbitant.

There is a huge reading hall. The timings for the reading hall are from 7 am to 10 pm, while the timings for the library are from 9 am to 5 pm. The library remains shut on Saturday, Sunday and on public holidays. This is the main concern of the members. One of them said, “When the PU library remains open on Saturdays till 7 am, why are the rules different here? The students get Saturdays off and can actually come and study. But the library is open five days a week and we have no option.”

But this is the only library where general public can come. The library has also preserved religious books like Quran bad Bible. Another reader, preparing for competitive exams said the atmosphere of the library was good for a students and they could easily get good material for their exam preparation. The yearly membership fee of this library is around Rs 8,000. The library gets Rs 6 lakh each year to buy books, journals, newspapers etc.

Tribune copies preserved

The library has also kept copies of The Tribune newspaper from 1964 till 2011. A separate area is dedicated to keep these copies. The library’s attendant Surinder Kumar said they only have The Tribune newspaper as it was widely read in the area.