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Showing posts with label library. Show all posts
Showing posts with label library. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Library@BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus











Inaugurated on the 16th of December the 55,000 square feet library had his Excellency E.S.L. Narasimhan the Governor of Andhra Pradesh to cut the ribbon. Ceremoniously done at an auspicious hour of 4:40 the building was graced by the presence of the director of Bits Hyderabad Prof. V. S. Rao and other professors. The library, consisting of two floors, has natural ventilation and is Wi-Fi enabled. It has about 30,000 books and subscribes to a number of academic, scientific and research journals, number of e-books and e-journals as well. It also has a digital library with a good collection of e-books and e-journals as well. It also has photo copying facilities, apart from a large area for reference books.

This library is a green library that doesn't consume much energy as there is ample light. There is no need to switch on lights during day time. The library has thousands of books in electronic format and more are being added constantly. Access to this material is restricted to the students and faculty at the campus. Reserve a book in advance is one of the many additional facilities that can be availed here. New arrival display helps reserve books in circulation. The library is fully computerized and the catalogue of resources and books can now be accessed online from the hostel as well.

The library is the haven for every student during the exam time. The library if filled with students who absorbed in the astounding silence and the studious ambience created by the presence of books and the perfect amount of light maintaining the sanctity. Students enjoy this aura that the library provides them with. Also the air conditioning cooling up the summer's heat and making the temperature very study friendly. Even the not so studious students choose to come over to the library when the exams approach.

The strategic placement of the library, pretty close to the canteen also enables students to refresh themselves and get recharged. The comprehensive exam time is when the library remains open longer than the usual 11 P.M till about 1 A.M making it convenient for the students who can fruitfully utilize the extra hours in going through the previous papers or reference books. The fiction collection though a little thin fascinates me and happens to be one of my personal favourites'. The Grandh initiative by a few students supposed to collect more number of books in several categories can be used to increase the collection of the library. The magnanimous structure in all not only enlightens bright minds of the rocky nation called Bits Hyderabad but also is an architectural marvel and serves as a grand attraction to our campus.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

BIMTECH students help put up library for inmates at Dasna Jail, Ghaziabad


Dasna Jail Library entrance
It is just after 10 am and activity has already begun inside Ghaziabads Dasna District Jail library, which is located about 35 kms from both New Delhi and Greater Noida. Four prison inmates who volunteer at the the newly formed library in the jail premises take a round of all the barracks to collect paper slips from the prisoners, which state the code, title and author of the book they would like to read. Next, the same inmates who are in-charge of the library operations spend much of the afternoon delivering the books to the inmates. Since the time Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH), Noida students and faculty have helped us put together the new, 4000-volume strong jail library, reading has become the life-line of many prisoners, said R K Pandey, Deputy Jailor at Dasna District Jail.
For BIMTECH students, the Dasna Jail library project was initially an extension of their social initiative under the institute funded Ranganathan Society for Social Welfare and Library Development. Since 2009, around 25 students who in addition to their regular curriculum wanted to get involved in social activities, became members of the Ranganathan Society. As a part of the society, this group visits nearby villages, helping residents set up libraries in these areas. Dr Rishi Tiwari, Librarian at the institute found out that while under an Uttar Pradesh State Government policy that requires all state jails to have a library, Dasna Jail had a library, but gross neglect and limited choice of reading subjects had resulted in minimal interest in the library in the prisoners. When he came up with the project proposal to develop the library in the Dasna Jail premises, the students took it up as a challenge, although some were a little apprehensive as well.
When Twinkle Chaddha, an alumnus from the 2012 batch at the institute told her husband about the Dasna Jail Library project, it was met with immediate rejoinders about the dangers of going to a jail, to not participate in the project and finally to be extra careful. However, for Twinkle, the project screamed an adventure that she really wanted to experience and learn something above and beyond her regular curriculum at the institute. On the other hand, inspired by his perception of jail life as a hard and unyielding one as seen in television serials, Ankit Agarwal, another BIMTECH alumnus from the 2012 batch became a part of the project because he wanted to do something to improve the life of jail inmates. Ankit felt that while his formal education was important, his involvement in a social project would help him understand the working of the society in a better manner, which was essential for any successful career, be it in a job or as an entrepreneur.
When the students started work on the project, some of them were apprehensive that the jail authorities might interfere in their work. Others did not know what kind of reception they would receive from the prisoners. However, much to their surprise, not only did the jail authorities welcome them, the jail inmates treated them with utmost respect. Esha Jain, another BIMTECH alumnus and part of the project was quite surprised to discover that the 3800-strong prison population included lawyers, doctors, software engineers and even a few management graduates. Probably because we were management students and had a close link with education, a few inmates came up to me and shared their passion for reading and even their dream of studying further, she told PaGaLGuY.
For Ankit, his first visit to Dasna Jail was an eye opener of sorts. A mixed group of prisoners have formed a Bhajan Mandli group, which sing a number of devotional songs every morning and evening, shared Ankit. He added that while as a management student all he had been bothered about was his grades, a well paying job and his dreams of running an entrepreneurship venture, to see the zest for life that these inmates possessed despite being in difficult circumstances was an extremely humbling experience.
In order to create a well-balanced library for the jail inmates, the students needed to understand the lifestyle of the prisoners, their background and reading interests. For this, they called upon the HR philosophies that they had learnt in their classes at that point of time. We created a questionnaire that would help us understand the prisoners demands from the library in a better manner, Twinkle said. The students method proved successful as the results of the survey clearly showed that the reading choices of the inmates were specific down to the author and even the titles of the books that they would like to read. Of the opinion that inmates would probably prefer religious and maybe a few current affairs books, their choices ranging from Hindi literature to law and even management books surprised the students.
To set up a fully automated, computerised library, first the students requested their peers, alumni and other contacts to donate books. The gaps in the compiled list was filled with the help of the funds allocated by the institute. Students also made a brochure of all the books, marking the books with the Dasna Jail stamp and numbering them alphabetically. The institute donated a couple of computers to the jail, which were then upgraded with the latest library software. Students then uploaded all the books on the system and even trained four inmates who had been nominated to take charge of the library functions to operate the computers and keep the library up-to-date in terms of records. While most of the inmates are literate, they had problems understanding the basics of operating a computer, Ankit said.
Neatly filled book racks with paintings made by inmates on top
The final version of the library was inaugurated on March 17, 2012. Tastefully decorated with paintings created by the inmates themselves, the library has led to a definitive change in the habits of the inmates. Since the library now has a more comprehensive reading list, with titles that interest maximum prisoners, the demand for reading has gone up by almost 300%, said Dr Vrijesh Sharma, Superintendent of Dasna Jail. According to Sunil Azad, one of the prison inmates who is in-charge of the library and a big fan of literature himself, Hindi literature was the most popular genre amongst the prisoners. R K Pandey also said that previously a lot of ideal time led to a number of fights amongst the prisoners. However, an increase in the reading habits has reduced their tendency to become violent.
As a student, his experience during the project helped Ankit when he set up his entrepreneurial venture after completing his management education. Realising the importance of social work, Ankit has set on the path of building an environment friendly office premise. On the other hand, while her management education has helped her bag a lucrative industry job, Twinkle is still involved with the Ranganathan society and their upcoming Luchnow District Jail project. I keep in touch with the institute authorities and help in whatever way I can, said Twinkle. Post the success of the Dasna Jail Library project, the institute has been approached by the Lucknow District Jail to develop its library as well. The institute has agreed to work on the project.
Elated at the success of the first phase of the Dasna Jail library project, Dr Tiwari has already outlined the parameters for the second phase of the project. The institute is planning to donate an additional 2,000 books to the library. As a part of the second phase, the library will also have an audio-visual section, which would include documentaries, inspirational movies as well as few popular movies. Work on the second phase of the Dasna District Jail library project is set to begin sometime during the month of September.

Monday, July 9, 2012

मदिरालय की बजाए खुलेंगे पुस्तकालय : सूचना परिवहन मंत्री


मदिरालय की बजाए खुलेंगे पुस्तकालय : मंत्री
हाजीपुर, जागरण संवाददाता
सूबे के सूचना परिवहन मंत्री वृशिण पटेल ने यहां कहा है कि वर्तमान समय में लोगों में पढ़ने की प्रवृति खत्म हो रही है। आज के युवा भी पढ़ाई में मेहनत करने के बजाये सफलता का शार्टकट रास्ता इस्तेमाल करते हैं। सरकार की चाहत है कि जगह-जगह मदिरालय नहीं पुस्तकालय खुले।
ये बातें उन्होंने यहां हाजीपुर में एक कार्यक्रम के दौरान कही। सृष्टि बाल युवा एवं महिला उत्थान मंडल व शिवजी राय मेमोरियल लाइब्रेरी के संयुक्त तत्वाधान में आयोजित पांच दिवसीय बाबू जगजीवन राम स्मृति पुस्तक संस्कृति उत्सव का उद्घाटन करते हुए उन्होंने कहा कि सरकार दिल से चाहती है कि राज्य में जगह-जगह मदिरालय नहीं पुस्तकालय हो। थोक भाव में स्कूल खोलकर सरकार सबूत भी दे चुकी है। लेकिन शराब दुकानों के बंद कर देने या अनुज्ञप्ति नहीं देने से शराबखोरी की प्रवृति पर अंकुश लगना नामुमकिन है। उन्होंने कहा कि शराब दुकान बंद हुए तो पान दुकानों, परचून और किराना दुकानों में असली नहीं नकली शराब बिकने लगेगी। शराब जैसी जहर पीकर जो लोग पचास वर्ष बाद मरते हैं वे तत्काल मरने लग जाऐंगे। अपने पैतृक गांव का हवाला देते हुए उन्होंने बताया कि लोगों ने सामूहिक प्रयास से गांव में खोले गए लाईसेंसी शराब दुकानों को बंद कराया उसके अगले ही दिन से पान, परचून और किराना दुकानों में शराब बिकने लग गई। शराब बिक्री के खिलाफ लोगों को सामूहिक रूप से न केवल संकल्प लेने पडे बल्कि गांव के लोगों ने दृढ़ इच्छा शक्ति का भी परिचय दिया। उन्होंने कहा कि सामूहिक रुप से ऐसी ही पहल की जानी चाहिए। उन्होंने कहा कि सरकार को राजस्व की चिंता नहीं है डर इस बात की है कि पाबंदी की स्थिति में नशे के लिए और कोई जानलेवा तौर-तरीकों का इस्तेमाल न शुरु कर दिया जाए। बाबू जगजीवन राम की पुण्यतिथि के अवसर पर पुस्तक संस्कृति उत्सव का आयोजन किए जाने पर आयोजक को बधाई देते हुए उन्होंने कहा कि आज के समय में पुस्तकालय खोलने जैसा पुनीत कार्य करना वास्तव में साहस का काम है। उन्होंने कहा कि वर्तमान दौर में पुस्तक पढ़ने की प्रवृति खत्म हो रही है। पढ़े-लिखे आम लोगों की बात दूर रही विद्यार्थी भी पुस्तक से विमुख हो रहे हैं। सफलता के लिए शार्टकट का इस्तेमाल किया जा रहा है। किताब के पन्ने पलटने के बजाये कम्प्यूटर पर वेव पेज खोलने का प्रचलन बढ़ा है। उन्होंने कहा कि वर्तमान दौर में कम्प्यूटर चाहे कितना भी महत्वपूर्ण क्यों न हो वह पुस्तकों की बराबरी नहीं कर सकता। माना कि इस मशीनी बक्से में जानकारियों का खाजाना है लेकिन वह लोगों को मानसिक रुप से बीमार बना रही है इसे कतई नही भूलना चाहिए। बाबू जगजीवन राम के व्यक्तित्व और कृतित्व पर प्रकाश डालते हुए उन्होंने कहा कि आज के राजनीतिज्ञों को उनसे प्रेरणा लेने की जरुरत है।

Monday, June 18, 2012

Chandigarh gets Asia’s first RTI library


CHANDIGARH: If you wish to see, possess or deposit papers related to the Right to Information (RTI) Act, then here is good news for you. A library of RTI documents, touted as Asia's first, was inaugurated at Dwarka Das Library, Lala Lajpat Rai Bhawan on Friday. The library has been formed by Servants of People's Society in association with the Citizens' Voice and RTI Users' Association.
Interestingly, it was also the seventh anniversary of the RTI Act in the country. A large number of RTI documents were deposited with the library on the inaugural day.

Friday, June 15, 2012

How to Develop in-house Library

My Dear Friends !
If you are reading on average one book every month that would equal 12 books per year. If you were to keep this pace up, you would read 120 books in ten years. Studies show that the average person reads less than one non-fiction book per year. Now, here is the interesting part. If you are reading in the area of your expertise, it won’t take you long to become an expert in your field.
Advantage of Reading
One of the advantages to reading is it keeps your mind in shape. When you make it a point to have plenty of books around to read, it makes it convenient to learn. It has been said that "The more you learn, the more you can earn." Remember, most people try to get by in life by doing the least. With that kind of competition, it is not hard to excel in your field of endeavor.
Personal Library
One way to get you started on building your mind through books is to start your own personal library. All it takes is one shelf in a corner of a room, and you will have your private library established. When you buy a book it becomes yours. You own it. You can write in it, bend the pages, and use a yellow marking pen to highlight the parts you want to reread again and again. It is a little like the analogy of leasing a car versus buying a car. When you own the car, you take better care of it and appreciate it more. There is a pride of ownership that comes from owning it. Books are the same way. When you own them, you take them more seriously.
Start Building Your Library Now
One place to find some excellent books is at http://www.flipkart.com/. Here you can find new ones and  even used ones also. They are normally delivered Books right to your home . Another great place for some spectacular finds is your local library and in Delhi, Dariya Ganj Book Market can cater all your book related needs in a cheaper way. Today, most libraries have a used bookstore inside the building. Typically you can buy paperback books for Rs.95 each and hard cover books for Rs. 500. I want to repeat, when you own the books, they mean more to you. These books become part of your educational mirror.
So, my advice to you is, grow your expertise by investing in the Books and reading books in your area of professional interest and watch your book bank account growing and growing.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

राशि विसंगति को ले अनशन पर बैठी पुस्तकालय सहायक


राशि विसंगति को ले अनशन पर बैठी पुस्तकालय सहायक
भभुआ, कैमूर,
मंगलवार को शहीद संजय महाविद्यालय इंटर की पुस्तकालय सहायक शशिलता वेतन विसंगति को दूर करने को प्राचार्य कक्ष के सामने अनशन पर बैठी।
अनशन पर बैठी शशिलता ने बताया कि प्रधानाचार्य अपने चहेते शिक्षक एवं शिक्षकेत्तर कर्मचारियों को अनुदान राशि में से अधिकतम राशि दिलवायी है। मुझे कम राशि निर्धारित करायी गयी है। इस विसंगति को दूर करने के लिए मैने महाविद्यालय के सचिव सह अनुमंडल पदाधिकारी तथा अध्यक्ष सह जिलाधिकारी कैमूर से बार-बार आग्रह किया कि मेरे वेतन की विसंगति व अनुदान की राशि वितरण मे हुई विसंगति को दूर किया जाये लेकिन इस पर कोई ध्यान नहीं दिया गया। लाचार होकर मैने उच्च न्यायालय में याचिका दायर किया है। उन्होंने कहा कि वेतन वृद्धि का मामला उच्च न्यायालय में लंबित है लेकिन शासी निकाय द्वारा मेरी गत वर्ष की भांति मिलने वाली अनुदान राशि भी इस वर्ष रोक दी है। तथा सभी कर्मचारियों के मासिक वेतन वृद्धि दो-दो बार की गयी है। उन्होंने कहा पूर्व की भांति मिलने वाली अनुदान की राशि पाने के लिए सभी कर्मचारियों की तरह अपनी वेतन वृद्धि के लिए तथा विसंगति दूर करने के लिए अनशन शुरू किया है यह कर्मिक अनशन 12-12 घंटे का होगा जो मांगे पूरी होने तक जारी रहेगा।
अनशन में शालनी सिंह, घनश्याम सिंह, राकेश कुमार सिंह, शशि कुमार , दिनेश कुमार गुप्ता, भानू कुमार गुप्ता शामिल थे।

A canticle for libraries


The hard thing is that you cant infuse jaan by donating books or legislating, it can come only from love
By Anurag Behar
The heat would melt the tar on the road, as I walked back home from school with friends. None of us would notice that the stiff black leather shoes burnt the feet with concentrated heat. From home I would walk to the British Library, the melting tar would stick to the shoe. Despite all our claims of the lake-generated pleasantness, Bhopal burnt in April and May, as much as the rest of north India.
The library was an air-conditioned oasis. I was willingly lost, hardly noticing the air conditioning. Lost in Bronowski’s The Ascent of Man. Lost in Punch. Lost in Christie, Sayers and Wodehouse. Lost gazing at the stars, in a fascinating atlas of the universe. Lost in Toynbee, Greene and Yeats. Often understanding little but so completely lost, that is how I discovered the world.
For every book I read, I read many more back-covers. I probably learnt more from the back-covers than I did later at my four-year engineering programme.
Last week I took my mother to a shop near the library. While she shopped I went and just stood in front of the library which was no longer there. In its place there was another library, the Vivekananda Library. This was a June evening, not a May afternoon, after 25 years. And out walked a familiar face from the past, from the different library.
Since 25 years change a boy, more than a man, he could not have recognized me. We chatted briefly, all he needed to know was that there was a time that I used to visit the British Library. His lament (in chaste Bhopali) started with “saheb, ab jaan nahi rah gayi” (there is no life any more). He said that they buy books with no thought, often from the shop across the road. The membership has dwindled. The staff runs the place for the salary they get, not for love; it’s a travesty of the memory of the great man whose name it bears.
Both of us were blinded by the dense fog of nostalgia. For me it was the discovery of the loss of the dearest of friends. The only solace being that perhaps things were not as bad as he made it out to be. I went back to my mother, who knows what the library meant to me.
When I used to go to the British Library, I also used to visit the Hindi Bhavan, which was my gateway to Indian literature. It had a great collection in imposing glass cases and steel almirahs, but it didn’t have any jaan. I would select the books quickly and get them issued, never linger on, never get lost.
The Bhopal I grew up in was a small town. My father grew up in a much smaller place, a very small kasba: Sarangarh. It was one of the many tiny “princely states” in Chhattisgarh. In the 1940s through to the 1960s, the success of people from that tiny, unknown place was remarkable. It was a simple measure of success in socialist India, the number of people who joined the ICS, IAS, IPS or other elite government jobs. The reason was well understood in Chhattisgarh: Sarangarh had good education. My father’s recounting of this good education has two stories. One is about how the local school became good.
The other story is that of the competition of libraries. In my father’s earliest memories, his tiny kasba had two libraries. He devoured the books in both. In some time he set up a library of his own, along with some friends. Some other people set up another library in competition. This competition was about who had better books. He was a member of all four libraries, benefiting from this unheard of phenomenon of library competition in a nondescript nook of India. Soon another one came up. A couple of years later, his uncle became the vice-president of the local municipal council. The uncle and nephew conspired to build what became a large municipal library, with a lot of jaan. It lit life there for a couple of decades; even I have seen its embers. My father says “whatever I became is in large measure because of that library”.
There is no substitute for a good schooling system and so we must improve ours. But education and learning, including that of adults, is also significantly influenced by the overall intellectual environment of local communities. Libraries are institutions that can substantially help with this. It’s no surprise that vocal gratitude for libraries, and lament if they are lost, I have heard from hundreds of people.
Even the age of Kindle and iPad, cannot obliterate the social institution that a good library can become. A library with jaan, is much more than books, it’s a place for meeting, exchange and discovery. If every kasba had one, the local schools and colleges would have an invaluable ally in education.
The hard thing is that you can’t infuse jaan by donating books or legislating, it can come only from love—I don’t know what else to call it.
Anurag Behar is chief executive officer of Azim Premji Foundation and also leads sustainability issues for Wipro Ltd. He writes every fortnight on issues of ecology and education. Comments are welcome at othersphere@livemint.com

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

A library in every school, please


library 300x199 A library in every school, please

Books are to education and learning what air and water are to life. Every child needs access to the printed word and lots of encouragement to explore it in order to develop properly.
You might, therefore, be surprised to learn that many schools do not have a library or a librarian – which seems a contradiction in terms. How can you have an organisation whose raison d’ ê tre is learning if it has no library? It’s like a restaurant without a kitchen or a zoo without any animals.
There is no law requiring schools to have libraries either. I worked in a Kent secondary school in the 1990s which had a reasonable – if not wonderful – library extensively used by pupils until the head, clearly not a real educationist, decided that it was, quite literally a waste of space. She decreed that the books be shelved (marginalised?) in the back of English classrooms because she wanted to use the former library room for something else. Result? Reduced emphasis on wider reading and much less access to fewer books for students.
The Society of Authors, which represents over 9,000 writers, is campaigning with other organisations for school libraries to be a legal requirement.
A recent open letter from the Society to schools minister Nick Gibb   asserted, among other things, that ‘Primary and secondary schools should be required by law to have a school library and a trained librarian.’
Out of the question for small schools? The letter acknowledges that ‘While we think dedicated librarians should be compulsory in secondary schools and all but the smallest primary schools, we recognise that librarians are an expensive resource and at the very least a designated teacher should get specialist training in such schools.’
To Gibb’s credit he said at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers conference in April: ‘I passionately believe that every school should have a library.’ But one man’s passionate belief is a long way from the complete change of mindset – and financial investment – that a proper school library provision needs.
Children need protecting from philistinism just as prisoners did thirteen years ago. As in schools today, library provision in prisons must have been patchy. The Prison Rules came into force on 1 st April 1999 and were made under the power delegated to the Secretary of State by Section 47 of the Prison Act 1952.
Rule 33 states: ‘A library shall be provided in every prison and, subject to any direction of the Secretary of State, every prisoner shall be allowed to have library books and to exchange them.’ Separate, but similar, rules govern Young Offenders’ Institutions.
Now, I am one hundred per cent in favour of education and books for people who have landed themselves in prison. It is almost certainly their best hope of rehabilitation to a non-criminal life.
But it seems absurd that, although there is no definition of the term ‘library’ for prisons – so provision could still be pretty poor – prisoners have in general a better protected right to libraries and books than school children.
Yes, school libraries and librarians cost money so what about some imaginative thinking?
Many public libraries are closing – to the outrage of civilised people and those who care about education and learning. If local authorities and schools were to work together it would be possible to combine local and school libraries. The community library is then run within the school by a designated librarian and is open to both the public and school pupils.
Variations of this idea have been tried quite successfully in some places – at Sawston in Cambridgeshire, for example, where the local library is part of Sawston Village College. Let’s have much more of it.
Another thought: Surely very small schools could combine library resources and share a librarian? If one school housed the library children from elsewhere in the group could be transported there once a week to choose and exchange books. And teachers could take resource boxes back to their own schools for limited periods. Not ideal or perfect but a great deal better than nothing.
Books, libraries and access to the printed word are not only the key to all other learning and educational achievement, they are also a basic human right. It is scandalous that many of our children are being denied. Legislation please, Mr Gibb. ASAP.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

इंटरनेट के जमाने ने किताबों से रुसवा किया


करती हैं बातें, बीते जमानों की 
दुनिया की, इंसानों की
आज की कल की, एक एक पल की
खुशियों की, गमों की, फूलों की, बमों की
जीत की, हार की, प्यार की, मार की 
क्या तुम नहीं सुनोगे इन किताबों की बातें 


इटावा। सफदर हाशमी साहब ने किताबों पर लिखी इस कविता में पूरी दुनिया को समेट दिया था। शायद वे यही कहना चाहते थे कि किताबें हैं तो सब कुछ है। पर अब देखने की प्रवृत्ति ने पढ़ने के रुझान को मानों दबाकर रख दिया है। इंटरनेट के जमाने ने लोगों को किताबों से रुसवा कर दिया। लाइब्रेरियों में पाठकों की कभी भरमार हुआ करती थी। अब जैसे अकाल सा पड़ गया है। राजकीय जिला पुस्तकालय को ही लें। यहां पाठकों के रुझान के सिवा वह सब कुछ मुहैया है। कभी दर्जनों की भीड़ रहती थी अब महज 15-20 लोग ही आते हैं।
संसाधन जुटाने में कोई कसर बाकी नहीं
जिला लाइब्रेरी में पुस्तकों के शौकीनों की सुविधाओं का पूरा ख्याल रखा गया है। बिजली चली जाए तो जेनरेटर की व्यवस्था है। पीने के पानी के लिए वाटर कूलर और सबमर्सिबल पंप लगा है। पाठकों के लिए कूलर लगा है। रिजल्ट देखना हो तो इंटरनेट की सुविधा के साथ चार कंप्यूटर रखे हैं। रंगीन टीवी और उसके साथ डीवीडी भी उपलब्ध है।
31 हजार पुस्तकों का जखीरा
लाइब्रेरी की शोभा पुस्तकों और पाठकों से होती है। जिला लाइब्रेरी में 31 हजार पुस्तकें तो शोभा बढ़ाती नजर आती हैं, लेकिन यह शोभा पाठकों के न होने से फीकी पड़ जाती है। यहां बैंक आदि कंप्टीशन की तैयारी के लिए छात्रों के विषय उपयोगी किताबें हैं तो बुर्जगों को ध्यान रखते हुए धार्मिक पुस्तकें भी रखी गई हैं। महिलाआें और बच्चों के लिए भी पढ़ने योग्य काफी मैटेरियल है। चिल्ड्रन कार्नर में कार्टून किताबें भरी पड़ी हैं।
जबकि पाठकों की हकीकत यह है
अब अगर यहां आने वाले पाठकों की हकीकत जाने तो जुटाए गए यह संसाधन बेमानी से लगने लगते हैं। सुबह 10 से शाम 5 बजे तक खुलने वाले इस पुस्तकालय में बुधवार को दोपहर करीब एक बजे तक 8 पाठक पहुंचे थे। मुख्य स्टडी हाल में दो लोग अखबार पढ़ते मिले। इसके बाद एक दो लोग किताबों की अदला बदली के लिए पहुंचते रहे। यहां आए प्राइवेट टीचर ब्रजनीश कुमार शर्मा इस पुस्तकालय के सदस्य भी हैं। बताते हैं कि जब समय मिल जाता है, चले आते हैं। साथ बैठे प्राइवेट कंपनी में कार्यरत अरविंद कुमार श्रीवास्तव सिर्फ अखबार पढ़ने आए थे। वह यहां के सदस्य भी नहीं है। ऐसे ही ग्रेजुएट छात्र अरुण कुशवाह अपनी बहन वंदना के साथ यहां पहुंचे। दोनों को कंप्टीशन तैयारी से जुड़ी किताबें चाहिए थी। अरुण भी यहां के सदस्य हैं। रिजनिंग आदि की चार किताबें खुद ढूंढी और लेकर चले गए। अरुण के मुताबिक विगत 8 माह से जुड़े हैं।
514 पंजीकृत सदस्य है यहां
जिला पुस्तकालय में कुल 514 पंजीकृत सदस्य है। यह संख्या दर्शाती है कि 5 लाख की आबादी वाले इस शहर में महज पांच सौ लोगों में पढ़ने के लिए लाइब्रेरी जाने की रुचि है। पुस्तकालयाध्यक्ष केबी दोहरे व प्रचारक राकेश पांडेय खुद पाठकों में इस अरुचि को लेकर चिंता करते दिखते है। वह कहते है कि सदस्यता शुल्क भी अधिक नहीं है। बच्चों के लिए सुरक्षित निधि 500 व बड़ों के लिए एक हजार रुपए निर्धारित है। 50 रुपए वार्षिक शुल्क है। एक माह तक इश्यू किताब पढ़ी जा सकती है। कंप्यूटर पर रिजल्ट एवं नौकरी आदि से जुड़ी जानकारी इंटरनेट पर देखी जा सकती है। यह सब कुछ निशुल्क है।
पुस्तक मेला लगे तो मिले फायदा
सेवानिवृत्त साहित्य प्रेमी सुरेश चंद्र द्विवेदी मानते हैं कि पाठकों की रुचि बढ़ाने के लिए भागीरथी प्रयत्न जरूरी हैं। पुस्तक मेले समय-समय पर आयोजित हों, जिसमेें आने वालों को पुस्तकालय का महत्व बताया जाए।
Source: Amar Ujala

Monday, May 14, 2012

How a DU lecturer Nidhi Verma managed to save a lending library by launching its online version

Libraries have long lost the battle to the commuting constraints of a metro city, with people having little time or inclination to visit great distances to borrow and return books. The ease of online shopping hasn't helped either, subsuming even the endearing neighbourhood bookshops. When one such bookshop-cum-lending library in Delhi found itself trapped in this flux, it proved to be the trigger for an online lending library-Book me a Book-in 2007. 

For Nidhi Verma, a lecturer at Delhi University, the idea took root as early as 2004. After teaching English for three years at DU, Verma got married and shifted to Bangalore. Here, again, she took up a teaching assignment at the Bangalore University for a year. "As a student of English, I had always been interested in reading. Then, in 2004, I took a sabbatical after the birth of my baby. It was around this time that I decided on starting an online lending library, which would be the best way to continue my love for books and keep myself occupied," says the 35-year-old. 

However, it wasn't till the end of 2007 that the website was launched. This delay was primarily due to the time and effort it took to select and categorise the books. "I had the basic infrastructure in terms of books, but categorising them for an online library was an arduous task. This, along with the work on the website, ensured that it was almost three years before the project was launched," she says. 

"Instead of setting up a completely new facility in Bangalore, I thought it would be easier to launch the online version of the shop that my mother-in-law owned at Shankar Market, Connaught Place, in Delhi. This way, I could save a lot on the infrastructure cost as well," says Verma. Finally, in October 2007, Book me a Book was launched from Bangalore for readers in Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida. 

Verma shovelled up Rs 1.5 lakh from her savings for seed capital, of which almost 90% was spent on the website. For the first two years, Verma handled the company from Bangalore, and then returned to Delhi in 2010. She broke even by the end of 2010 and, since then, has had a steady flow of members. 

How does the library work? Readers need to register at the website, bookmeabook.com. They can then select from nearly 20,000 booksand three plans-regular, casual reader and super reader-with the charges varying from Rs 300-500 per month. Finally, they can select the books of their choice, which are dropped and picked up by the company at the reader's address. The payment can be made via credit or debit card, cheque or cash on delivery, and previously issued books need to be returned in order to place a fresh order. The number of books vary, from two books at a time per month for the casual reader to unlimited number of books per month for the super reader plan. 

Verma employs nearly 10 people and makes Rs 20,000-25,000 per month from the venture. Since last year, she has also started teaching at a college in DU, but her passion continues to be her books.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Develop Your Own Library !!


Dear Friends!
If you were to read 1 book a month, every month that would equal 12 books per year. If you were to keep this pace up, you would read 120 books in ten years. Studies show that the average person reads less than one non-fiction book per year. Now, here is the interesting part. If you are reading in the area of your expertise, it won’t take you long to become an expert in your field.
Advantage of Reading
One of the advantages to reading is it keeps your mind in shape. When you make it a point to have plenty of books around to read, it makes it convenient to learn. It has been said that "The more you learn, the more you can earn." Remember, most people try to get by in life by doing the least. With that kind of competition, it is not hard to excel in your field of endeavor.
Personal Library
One way to get you started on building your mind through books is to start your own personal library. All it takes is one shelf in a corner of a room, and you will have your private library established. When you buy a book it becomes yours. You own it. You can write in it, bend the pages, and use a yellow marking pen to highlight the parts you want to reread again and again. It is a little like the analogy of leasing a car versus buying a car. When you own the car, you take better care of it and appreciate it more. There is a pride of ownership that comes from owning it. Books are the same way. When you own them, you take them more seriously.
Start Building Your Library Now
One place to find some excellent books is at http://www.flipkart.com/. Here you can find new ones and have they delivered right to your home. Another great place for some spectacular finds is your local library. Today, most libraries have a used bookstore inside the building. Typically you can buy paperback books for 95 Rs. each and hard cover books for 500 Rs. I want to repeat, when you own the books, they mean more to you. These books become part of your educational mirror.
So, my advice to you is, grow your expertise by investing in and reading books in your area of professional interest and watch your bank account grow.

Friday, May 11, 2012

छात्रों को गुजरना पड़ रहा फिसलन भरी सीढ़ी से


कुरुक्षेत्र, जागरण संवाद केंद्र : कुवि में नए तैयार हुए जवाहरलाल नेहरू पुस्तकालय के भवन का नक्शा अब विद्यार्थियों के जी का जंजाल बन गया है। एक तो विद्यार्थियों को मुख्य पुस्तकालय भवन में पुस्तक लेने जाने के लिए सीढि़यों से दो बार चढ़ना और उतरना पड़ रहा है, दूसरा अंदर जाने वाले रास्ते पर बनी सीढि़यां इतनी फिसलन भरी हैं कि उनपर विद्यार्थी फिसल कर गिर जाते हैं। विकलांग विद्यार्थियों को सबसे ज्यादा दिक्कत हो रही है। बुधवार को दोनों भवनों को जोड़ दिया गया।
कुवि प्रशासन ने लगभग ढ़ाई करोड़ की लागत से विद्यार्थियों को पुस्तकालय के भवन की नई सौगात तो दे दी, लेकिन अब इसमें अंदर जाने का रास्ता विद्यार्थियों को तंग कर रहा है। इस भवन का रास्ता इस प्रकार से डिजाइन किया गया है कि पुस्तकालय में जाने के लिए सबसे पहले सीढि़यों से ही सामना होता है और सीढि़यों से सीधे प्रथम तल पर जाना पड़ता है। जिसके बाद नए भवन को पार कर पुराने भवन में नीचे जाने के लिए फिर से सीढि़यां उतरना पड़ता है। ऐसे में अगर किसी विद्यार्थी को पुराने भवन के हॉल में जाकर पढ़ना हो तो पुस्तकें लेना आसान है नहीं तो पहले वह पूराने भवन में से पुस्तक लेकर आएगा और फिर पुस्तक को रखने जाएगा। जिसमें उसे दो बार सीढि़यों से उतरना चढ़ना होगा। इसके अलावा नए भवन के प्रथम तल पर बैठकर पढ़ने वाले विद्यार्थियों को हजारों विद्यार्थियों के आने-जाने के कारण एकाग्रता भंग हो जाती है।
पहले दिन विकलांगों को होना पड़ा शिकार : बुधवार को दोनों भवनों को जोड़ने के कारण सीढि़यों से आने-जाने में सबसे ज्यादा विकलांगों को दिक्कत हुई। सीढि़यों के फिसलन भरा होने के कारण पहले ही दिन कई विकलांग विद्यार्थी सीढि़यों पर गिर गए। विद्यार्थियों ने इसकी शिकायत पुस्तकालयाध्यक्ष से भी की।
विकलांगों के लिए खुलेगा पुराना द्वार : पुस्तकालय अध्यक्ष आरडी मैहला ने बताया कि पहले दिन विद्यार्थियों को दिक्कत हुई। उन्होंने बताया कि पुराने द्वार को पूरी तरह से बंद नहीं किया गया है। वहां कर्मचारी को बिठाया गया है यहां से कोई भी विकलांग छात्र पुस्तकालय में अंदर आ सकता है। विकलांग छात्र के आते ही कर्मचारी द्वारा दरवाजे को खोला जाएगा बाहर जाने के लिए यही रास्ता प्रयोग किया जा सकता है।

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Tamil Nadu to set up new textile library

The state government announced a slew of measures for the development of handlooms and textile industry including establishing a textile library for conserving the traditional designs and churning out new designs and a separate electricity feeder line for textile parks in Tamil Nadu.
“This library will aim at preserving the traditional handloom designs, handloom weaving tradition, art work, foster handloom designs making, applying latest technology in design and production.
The CM has ordered the establishment of this library at Chennai Co-Optex complex at the cost of Rs 25 lakh,” S. Sundararaj, handlooms and textiles minister said.
Winding up the debate on the demand for grants for his department in the Assembly on Wednesday, he said the library would house books and periodicals on textile technology, besides display handloom woven products and looms.
Apart from announcing a 10 per cent hike in wages for handloom weavers, thus entailing the cooperative societies an additional expenditure of about Rs 25 crore, the minister said the education aid given to wards of weavers would be enhanced.
A design and training centre would be set up at Paramakudy and training centres at Kumbakonam and Kancheepuram. The defunct Ramanathapuram district cooperative spinning mill would be revived.
Meanwhile, a policy note on the department said 17 of 18 common effluent treatment plants, Tirupur, have submitted reports to the TN Pollution Control Board, which has recommended 7 CET plants for the first phase.
About Rs 24.36 crore, 10 per cent of the loan amount for civil works and 20 per cent of loan amount for purchasing machines, would be released from out of the interest free loan of Rs 179.34 crore sanctioned by the government.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

IGNOU to set up a library for competitive examinations

It will be established at its regional centre at Sikkander Chavadi
A well-stocked library, exclusively for candidates preparing for competitive examinations, is being set up in the Regional Centre of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) at Sikkander Chavadi here.
The study material of various courses offered by the university, which are considered helpful for competitive examinations such as for the Civil Services, will be available in the reference library.
M. Shanmugham, IGNOU Regional Director, Madurai Regional Centre, told The Hindu on Tuesday that the library would have books on various subjects which were prepared by the university and in great demand. “Since our study material are given only to students pursuing IGNOU courses, we thought of creating a library with a good collection of books so that others who are preparing for Civil Services or any other competitive examination shall also benefit,” he said.
The free library would be ready by July when the new academic year session begins. “We have collected the study material and sent them for binding. IGNOU's resource material on subjects such as public administration and history is popular. They are not available in the open market,” Dr. Shanmugham said.
Candidates who want to visit the reference library must show proof of registration or identity card for having applied for a competitive examination. The admissions for July session (2012-13 academic year) would begin in the next few days and go on till June 30. “We are taking several steps to increase the student enrolment for our courses. At the same time, our focus is also on employability and hence skill-based programmes are our priority,” he added.
Student support services were being enhanced in the Madurai region so as to create a good link between students and the university.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Canada varsity keen on library partnership with IITs

KOLKATA, APRIL 18: 
A Canadian university is moving towards library and research partnerships with two Indian Institutes of Technology.
The University of Alberta (UA) is expecting to share digitised materials in diverse areas such as medicine, engineering and literature with IIT, Ropar, and IIT Roorkee, a university spokesperson told Business Line.
Ms Margaret Law, Director of International Relations with the university libraries, was in India recently.
According to her, the institutions may work out specific ways in which they could share rare copies of digitised materials. “This will be with librarians from the IITs and their Canadian counterparts,” Ms Law said.
She felt the university library needed to support those beyond western perspectives on medicine, engineering, or any other fields.
In her efforts to enhance research capacities at the University of Alberta, she felt the need to build an infrastructure base by helping develop expertise in librarianship and build library collections worldwide.
For example, IIT Ropar offers a course on Canadian literature but have a very limited collection. “We're going to help them build a good Canadian literature collection”, Ms Law said.
IIT, Ropar, in turn will help the Canadian university build a library of Indian traditional medicine. “We have a number of researchers in Canada, who are interested in global health issues and we have a special collection that's specifically focused on indigenous traditions and health practices”.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Libraries : A place of unending discovery

SOME OF us think of libraries as dusty, musty places filled with old books no one wants to read and people who for some strange reason love to rummage through the shelves or lose themselves behind piles of faded bound volumes. But for many others, libraries are places of unending discovery, where a chance find can lead to hours of fulfilling reading. In reality, libraries are real storehouses of knowledge. Predictions that the printed word would become obsolete, and that books as we know them would cease soon after the beginning of the new century may have worried young people fascinated by books and libraries. But we can see clearly that the publishing industry is far from dead, and libraries are still very much a part of academic and cultural life the world over.
True, the face of the modern library is undergoing change, but at its core it remains the same storehouse of organised knowledge that it has always been. Library science has taken on the avatar of an information science, a discipline that brings together the craft of cataloguing information and the art of imagining connections that can lead to new knowledge. In India, the relatively low rate of literacy and the position of academic life in general have relegated the librarian to the background, but in many developed countries, library science is considered one of the top ten career fields. As India becomes a more information conscious society, people who understand how to organise and access bodies of knowledge will most definitely be valued.
Today's libraries house much more than books — they include computer-based media such as CD-ROMs and online databases, audio-visual media such as tapes, films and video/laser discs, microfilm and microfiche. Today's librarians, therefore, must be able to work with a wide range of media and formats, and understand how people use information for research, education, or entertainment. They need to be techno-savvy but also understand where to go for antiquated and out-of-print volumes that some researchers might need.
A librarian's work involves identifying material, acquiring and cataloguing it, and helping people retrieve what they need. They need to keep up with the latest publications in a wide range of fields, and make decisions about what to include in their own collections, within a given budget — or where to find materials that they do not have. In addition to organising the collection, the librarian may also help users retrieve material, and sometimes put together bibliographies and reference lists for researchers. Some librarians specialise in organising information for online databases, designing access and retrieval systems that make it possible for users to search large bodies of information easily and efficiently. Others focus on documentation, an allied field that is becoming increasingly important in today's knowledge society. Yet others become archivists, helping store valuable information media such as scrolls, paintings and ancient manuscripts. A librarian is therefore not just a back-office person who is lost among the bookshelves, but someone who interacts with users and helps them in their search for knowledge.
In India, most librarians begin their career after a degree in library science. While a few institutions offer short-term diploma courses, the best way to enter the field is to obtain a bachelor's degree in library science, after a basic degree in any discipline. This is generally a one or two-year course, which can be followed by a master's. Increasingly, library science degrees also include information science, as librarians are seen less as administrators of books and more as "information architects". Information architecture is an emerging field that explores ways that content can be grouped (organisation), how to refer to the content groups (labelling), and how to move between the groups (navigation). As we move from storing information in books, to creating electronic libraries, which are multi-directional and use multi-media, information architects have an important responsibility to organise this "mess" of data in ways that users can access quickly and easily.
The "careerscape" of library science is therefore quite varied, and the nature of work can change according to the nature of the institution that one works with. A school librarian, for instance, has quite a different task from a librarian at the State Archives or the Museum of Natural History, who again has a job very different from a person who manages the database of CNN Online or a Film and Television Institute. If you are among those who finds the organisation and storage of information fascinating, and have no trouble living among piles and piles of books, this may be a field to seriously consider.