Southern States - Kerala   

Project for reference libraries in panchayats

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI OCT. 2. A Rs. 60-crore project from an international funding agency would assist in setting up reference libraries in all panchayats in the State, according to Kadammanitta Ramakrishnan, poet and president of the Kerala State Library Council.

Talking to The Hindu, Mr. Ramakrishnan, who was here to take part in a State level meeting of taluk reference libraries convened by the Library Council on Wednesday, said the project proposals had already been sent to the Middle East Funding Agency through the State and Union Governments. If implemented, the project could revolutionise the village libraries, offering computer and Internet facilities along with reference books for the rural readers, he said.

Though one per cent of the total budget allocation for education had been earmarked for the Library Council, the full amount hardly ever reached the Council, pointed out the Library Council secretary, I.V. Das. Even though such an efficient network of libraries existed in Kerala alone, most other States made higher allowances for the libraries, he said.

The Kerala Libraries Act (1987) provides for allotting five per cent of the building tax collected by the local government bodies to the Library Council, but its effective implementation had not yet materialised. Only the Corporation of Kozhikode had taken interest in making the payments properly, Mr. Das said.

The funds deficit faced by the Library Council has reportedly affected the functioning of more than 100 non-formal education centres which were operating from rural libraries. These non-formal education centres which had started functioning from 1995, now function with the funds generated locally at most centres. About 275 Balavedi Kendrams, started in 1997, are also affected.

The State level meet was convened by the Library Council at Ernakulam Public Library for a periodical review of the Taluk Reference Library Project being implemented under the 11th Planning Commission recommendations. The last two stages of the four-year project worth Rs. 3.8 crores will be implemented during this financial year itself. Under the scheme, the taluk reference libraries were given a collection of reference books and computers with Internet facilities. Training for librarians and awareness programmes were also conducted. In the last two phases, more reference books will be given to the libraries along with photocopiers for selected libraries.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the 63 taluk reference libraries, District Library Council secretaries and executive committee members of the Kerala State Library Council.

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