Rare books to see rebirth in Bengaluru's digital library push

Rare books at the State Central Library here that were on the verge of disintegration will soon get a new lease of life, thanks to the digitisation project taken up as part of the government’s push for a virtual library that has brought in nearly five lakh readers.

The library, in the Cubbon Park campus, has about 3.5 lakh books, but a majority of them are old. At present, readers can refer the books, but are not allowed to borrow as officials fear losing the books during circulation.

“Most of the books date back to hundreds of years. We have books that go back to the 12th century and are disintegrating. Under the National Mission on Libraries, the Centre is funding the purchase of a book scanner. We are now going through every book that needs digitisation,” said Satishkumar S Hosamani, director of the Department of Public Libraries.

He said the exercise will cover other libraries in the state that have a similar wealth of books.

The City Central Library in Mysuru, which celebrated its centenary year in 2015, has a similar heritage. As timekeepers, the old libraries have inherited knowledge in the form of books from royal families, the British and other contributors and all of them need to be preserved.

“The process, however, will be time-consuming as digitisation of old books should be done with care. We not only want to preserve this heritage for the future, but make it accessible. The doors of our virtual libraries are open any time,” he said.

The department launched 272 virtual libraries across the state in February to a moderate response.

The Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown that followed gave a boost to the membership with 4.83 lakh people becoming members of the virtual library.

More than one lakh books are already available in the virtual library, ranging from arts, humanities to sciences and technology. One can see a preference for books on competitive exams, especially by aspirants of civil services and other jobs.

Officials expect that the digital access will attract more youngsters in the coming days.