VARANASI: The slow repairing work at the only library of Varanasi Nagar Nigam (VNN) in Shaheed Udyan in Sigra going on for more than a year, is creating trouble for book lovers and hundreds of morning and evening walkers.
"Nothing could beat the pleasure of reading newspapers and magazines after a pleasant morning and evening walk in the park. However, the library is struggling and the morning and evening walks have lost the charm," said Shishir Kumar, a regular evening walker in the park. "Half of the summer vacations have already passed and the construction work is still crawling. Children, particularly those who cannot afford to buy expensive books, are losing an opportunity to have access to free reading," said Kritika, a tutor.
The library specially meant for children has a capacity of over 8000 books which includes Hindi and English novels, children story books, books on science fiction and nearly 30 different editions of newspapers and magazines. The library gives an opportunity for people to read books without any fee or registration charges.
According to an employee of VNN who looks after the library, after the continuous degradation of the library for over a year, the construction work started in Spetember 2011. "The construction in the library is still going on. The three reading rooms are badly in shape crammed with damaged furniture and bundles of books, leaving no space for the readers and even book racks to be adjust," he said. In 1987, when the library was established as children's library, the number of readers used to be around 100, which often increased to 150-200 during summer vacations. Since the building started getting dilapidated, the number of readers reduced sharply. At present, the construction is going on inside the library, leaving no space for readers to sit. The library is serving the morning walkers by making newspapers available outside the library. "In spite of the lack of space for reading, the library does not issue books to be taken to home," Abhishek, a morning walker said.
According to additional municipal comissioner Sachidanand Singh, the construction is expected to get finished by the end of June.
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