'We are failing to reach out to public'

The number of books being brought out in Kannada certainly raises the eyebrows. The euphoria dies down if one goes by the quality.

The purchase of books for libraries, therefore, poses a huge challenge. K G Venkatesh, Director of State Libraries Department, identifies the loopholes in the purchase process. Excerpts from an interview.

There are allegations of irregularities in purchase of books for libraries. What are the steps taken by the Department to curb them?

The irregularities in the purchase of books cannot be wiped out as long as the tendency to bring out poor quality books thrives. It is impossible for the Department to curb violations through legal measures. We are in a situation where we are being asked to act with our hands tied. People buying books should make up their mind to purchase only quality works.

What measures have been taken to tackle sale of books by fly-by-night publishers?

Publication houses are mushrooming by the day to take advantage of government schemes. According to the rule, the government cannot purchase books worth more than Rs one lakh a year from a single publisher. It has now been proposed to increasing the ceiling to Rs five lakh a year. The present single window system provides equal opportunities for selection and sale of books. The benefit of the system should be meant only for authors and publishers.

It is being said that the members of selection committee do not read the books completely and hence the quality of selection has suffered. What is the remedy?

Litterateurs and persons with literary background are being selected as members of the panel. They possess thorough knowledge of good authors and reputed publishers. The committee gets as many as 7,000 books a year and it is impossible for the members to read each of them. They screen the books after a scrutiny. The members should voluntarily abstain themselves from the process whenever books authored or published by them comes before the committee. An author, who has her own publication house, had submitted as many as 21 books and all had been rejected for their poor quality.

What is the solution for the ills plaguing libraries in the State?

There is no shortage of books in Kannada. We receive about 15 lakh books a year from book authority, academies, donors and under various schemes of the government. But we don’t have necessary space to safekeeping the books. The Department has received an annual grant of only Rs two crore for construction of buildings and it is next to impossible to allot the funds amongst 5,766 gram panchayat libraries and 475 branch libraries across the State. We are failing in taking books to the reading public. The government should give more grants for library infrastructure.