Unusable Public Library
Bangalore is home to a 100yrs old State Central Library, that is managed by Department of Public Libraries, Govt. Of Karnataka. I would like to share the story of new library that has come up in Haralur, Near HSR Layout, that seem to be mere namesake library that is not usable for even a voracious reader.
Bangalore’s latest library has come up in Lakedew Residency, Haralur —in a civic amenity site that was allocated to Library by Bangalore Development Authority. Dept of Public Libraries has probably spent around Rs.1.2–1.6Cr on the building & infrastructure.
Lakedew Residency library (probably all the recent libraries) have 3 major issues that makes it less usable (or almost unusable) for the people around.
Issue #1 : No books from prominent authors
I would probably put myself as a person buying more books than finish reading them, love good books, was super excited to see library coming up next door, I was the first member at the library and all enthusiasm to borrow a book written by Kuvempu or Shivaram Karanth (both are Jnapeeta Award winners), was really disappointed to not find even a single book of Shivaram Karanth.
Karnataka is home for 8 Jnanapeeta Award recipients (highest award for literary work in India), and there are posters of award winners along with book titles that won them the award, but cannot find any of their titles.
It sounds like an irony that a new library has been setup for promoting Kannada language but it’s hard to find even a single readable book that you can borrow.
Issue #2 : Language
As a Public Library in Karnataka it has been stocked with about 80% Kannada books (myself as a Kannadiga, was super impressed & happy), but should the department rather survey the residents within 10kms radius or assess the demand for English / other language books, before purchasing the books?
Issue #3 : Lack of book catalogue
Books in the library have not been organised in the racks by author or title, it’s hard to search & the staff at the library are not willing to search if you give them a title. Bangalore being the IT hub, is it hard to get a simple app for title / author search to locate the book in the library?
It seems like waste of public funds on setting up a library that is not usable. I would be reaching out to librarian / zone head of libraries in Bangalore & understand the reason / rational for the book selection at the library.
