Dwindling visitor footfall, low on funds; state libraries gather dust
In this era of mobile phones and the Internet, readers want information to be presented in a shorter, easier-to-digest format and consequently their interest in visiting libraries has been virtually reduced to a zilch.
With little or no patrons at all, it is clear that books have been pushed out of business. Readers have turned to the source that quenches their thirst for knowledge — the Internet.
Reason enough why barely one or two people come to the Gurdaspur district library every day. Compare this to the pre-mobile and pre-Internet period when the library attracted more than 150 persons daily. The library here is functioning with a skeletal staff of just two persons, one being the mandatory peon!
The two-member staff pay from their own pocket to ensure a sweeper comes daily to keep the campus clean. The library is perennially short on funds. Early last year, it received a grant of Rs 20 lakh, but that will be used to develop the building and allied infrastructure. There is no money to buy new books. Leave alone new ones, taking care of the 60,000 old ones, almost all of which are lying in broken almirahs, has become a financially onerous task.
In all, there are 15 district libraries in Punjab. The condition of all of them is akin to the one in Gurdaspur. These entities are on the verge of closure, a development that saddens the hearts of purists.
As traditional information institutions, libraries are undergoing radical changes. These no longer lure people as more and more digital material is available.
The library was shifted to its present address in 2006. Earlier, it was located in the heart of the town. Such was its popularity that the area used to be called “Library Chowk”.
Rupinder Kaur, Librarian-cum-Restorer, says, “The shift in reading habit has been caused by the Internet. As people become more accustomed to reading only short blurbs, their overall attention span for novels and longer literary pursuits is waning. They skim and scan the Internet for the information they want, rather than ploughing through to the end with a good book, like we used to do in our time.”
Staff member Pawan Kumar has the right logic to bring back readers. He says, “A good Internet search engine can bring you 5,000 answers. But only a librarian can bring you the right one.”
