Bangalore: The 2,500 rural libraries sanctioned by the Government will do more than bringing books to villages, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education and Public Libraries Basavaraj Horatti said on Tuesday.

Mr. Horatti, who was inaugurating the National Library Week, said: "Adult literacy can be promoted through libraries and major literary works made available to rural readers. With the centralised book selection and purchasing system in place, every author of a good Kannada book is assured of 300 to 500 copies being sold and it should encourage publishers too," he said.

He said he would ask librarians, especially in small towns and rural areas, to help those studying for competitive examination. "Many students from Scheduled Castes cannot afford to buy reference books they need so the larger libraries will keep a separate section for them and keep them open between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.," he said.

The Government was recruiting around 350 staff for libraries, including 100 new posts so that those visiting a library were served by someone who knew where the books were, he said. Better pay scales and a transparent transfer policy were among other reforms for library staff. With some cities like Bangalore collecting large amounts as library cess, while some other towns badly needed funds, a common pooling of funds was introduced with funds going to libraries in district and taluk headquarters.

The Urban Development Department could help build library infrastructure and this was suggested to the Chief Minister.

Kannada Development Authority chairman Siddalingaiah, who presided over the function, suggested that the birth anniversary of S.R. Ranganthan, considered the father of the library movement in the country and whose indexing and classification system was followed by librarians, be marked as Librarians' Day with awards for distinguished persons of that profession each year.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail