Once a cultural beacon, now in decay: Bongaigaon district library cries for help

Bongaigaon, Apr 5: The Bongaigaon District Library has become a victim of neglect by the authority concerned and is in dire need of upkeep.

The library, which was inaugurated in 2004 after its foundation was laid by the then Chief Minister, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, on September 22, 2000, holds over 14,412 books and has 1,421 registered members at present.

Numerous books are now kept in bundles in a room of the library due to the lack of sufficient shelves to arrange them properly. Furthermore, the reading room of the library lacks space for a big reading table with adequate chairs, and the number of lights and fans is also limited in the room.

The toilet of the library is lying in an unusable condition. The water tap in the toilet is faulty, and there is no potable water facility for visitors. Sarat Ray, a temporary cleaner who joined the library in 2009, has to buy brooms with his own money to sweep the floor of the reading room and dust the bookshelves of the library. According to several members of the library, the library's authority does not even feel the need to provide disinfectants and toilet cleaning materials to the 5 cleaners for maintaining a hygienic atmosphere.

On the other hand, the auditorium of the library has been left un-repaired since 2023. The 638-seat auditorium is lying unused because of its leaky roof, worn-out electrical wiring, damaged furniture, and decrepit interior fixtures.

According to a source, when the auditorium was functional, the library authority used to charge Rs 2,000 for hosting each public programme and Rs 500 for each government event. With this revenue, the library authority was able to meet urgent expenses, the source said.

Besides doing his assigned work, cleaning staff Ray has been running the library alone for the last three months due to the absence of the new librarian in charge, Mehtab Hussain, who has attended the library only once since joining duty in February this year.

"Since librarian in charge Hussain has to look after the Barpeta and Goalpara District Libraries as well, perhaps he does not manage to find the time to attend this library," Ray said.

Currently, instead of ten newspapers and important magazines to read in the library, readers get only eight newspapers. Paucity of funds has limited the supply of newspapers and periodicals in the library, Ray added.

Meanwhile, the readers and library members want to draw the attention of the directorate of library services so that the problems of the library are resolved and it resumes functioning properly.

The library remains open to visitors from 11 am to 4 pm on Tuesdays to Sundays, except on Mondays, the second and fourth Sundays, and government holidays.

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Correspondent