Out of print books at State Central Library will be digitised, says Sait

Thousands of books at the State Central Library here will be digitised and added to the e-library, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Tanveer Sait said on Sunday.

“There are 3.64 lakh books at the State Central Library and one lakh books at district central libraries.

Books which cannot be reprinted will be added to e-library. Around 50,000 books have been digitalised so far. Books on various disciplines will be added to the digital library,” he said after inaugurating the renovated building of the historic library.

The minister promised to open a library in each of the 1,204 government pre-university colleges in Karnataka and said the work had begun. Libraries have already come up in 395 educational institutions. He also spoke of a plan to open a library in schools where one of the teachers is selected for the ‘Best Teacher’ award.

With April 23 being the World Book Day, Sait said the government was purchasing more books with every passing year. “In 2016-17, Rs 19 crore worth of books have been purchased, up from Rs 6.1 crore in 2013-14,” he said.