City to get new libraries, reading rooms soon: Mayor

 If all goes according to the plan, the city will get new libraries and also reading rooms depending on the availability of lands in different wards under Mysuru City Corporation (MCC).
                     
Presiding over Mysuru City Central Library Authority meeting, Mayor B L Bhyrappa, also the chairman of the authority, said, “The MCC will decide over utilising Rs nine crore library cess arrears, to be paid to library, towards the construction of library buildings.

‘To pay cess’
Bhyrappa, who also passed the budgetary outlay of Rs 350 lakh (Rs 3.5 crore) for the year 2016-17 for city central library, also promised to pay Rs 1.25 crore library cess from the city corporation towards building a library at People’s Park in the city. Measures will also be initiated to handover the library buildings to the department of libraries after creating infrastructures like drinking water, toilets among others.

The mayor also promised to take initiative towards the construction of a building for community children at central library in JP Nagar (coming under ward 12 represented
by mayor in the city corporation), assuring to sanction a site of 30x40 dimension for
the purpose.

Reading rooms will be started in 40 wards that lack branches of the city central library. The buildings belonging to the city corporation and community halls will be used to set up reading rooms, only after discussing with the corporators.

The buildings will be handed over to the department of libraries. The mayor also directed the library department authorities to recruit degree and postgraduate degree holders in library science on apprenticeship, to maintain such libraries and reading rooms on a temporary basis. They should be provided stipend for the purpose, he added.

Direction to clear arrears
Bhyrappa directed Special Tahsildar of Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) R Manjunath, who was also present during the meeting, to settle the arrears of library cess to the city central library. MUDA should also take decision on granting sites for free in various localities for libraries.

The other promises include directly depositing six per cent library cess collected from the public by the MCC to the account of libraries department and releasing the pending arrears of library cess towards the digitisation of books available at libraries in JP Nagar, Udaygiri, Ramakrishna Nagar and Vivekananda Nagar.

City Central Library Deputy Director B Manjunath, Superintendent Manu M and other officials attended the meeting.