JOIN USNow, library to come to your doorstep
If everything goes well, residents in the city can enjoy reading their favourite books at their wards. The City Central Library is thinking to start library services in all the wards.
But, it will be possible only with the support of the civic bodies – Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) and Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).
At present, of the 65 wards in the city, only 25 wards have libraries — 18 branches and 10 library centres. To extend the service to the readers and also to promote the habit of reading among the people, the Public Libraries department is planning to extend libraries to all the wards.
‘Space identified’
The department has identified space in existing buildings maintained by the corporation and MUDA. A few community halls and other structures have remained unused in many wards.
Mayor B L Bhyrappa, also chairman of the libraries committee, said, the intention was to promote libraries and to use available resources.
“The process for extension of the services is in the pipeline. The corporation will identify the buildings in all the areas and if no structure is available then new buildings will be constructed. The works will be taken up with the cess amount payable by the corporation to the library,” Mayor said.
The MCC has to pay Rs 9 crore and MUDA has kept approximately Rs 50 lakh pending towards the city library, said library authorities.
City Central Library Deputy Director B Manjunath said, the department was happy to extend the services to the citizens, but, the move was not feasible, without the support of the civic bodies.
“The department is facing staff and funds crunch. I have written to the government, seeking more staffers. If the corporation arranges for space and funds, the department will set up branches or service centres at all the wards,” he said.
Mobile library
At present, the Kuvempu Mobile Library, which was relaunched recently, is offering services at 40 wards and is getting good response, but, many readers fail to make use of it adequately due to the time limit.
“The vehicle, which visits the respective wards once in a week, spends only a few minutes there. Nearly 300 readers have registered as members,” Manjunath added.