Nagpur: In a pointer to the drastic decline in hard copy reading of books, it has come to the light that as many as 31 public libraries have been closed down in five years in Nagpur district. This has been revealed by the Office of the District Library Officer in response to an application under Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Of the closed down libraries, the highest 13 are from Nagpur city alone. Nagpur city is followed by Katol Tehsil with four libraries becoming non-functional; Umred, Narkhed, Nagpur (Rural), Parseoni, and Mouda Tehsils with two libraries bundled out. Of the closed down libraries in the district, one each is from Kalmeshwar, Kamptee, Bhiwapur, and Ramtek Tehsil. All of these libraries are Class ‘C’ or ‘D’.
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Wed 16 Oct. 2024
The Nagpur -based activist Abhay Kolarkar had sought the information under RTI Act from the Office of the District Library Officer, Nagpur. As per the response he has received, of 31 libraries that were closed down, maximum12 became defunct in 2017-18. In 2018-19, six libraries became defunct. Four became defunct in 2019-20, three in 2020-21, and six more in 2021-22. As per the data, during COVID-19 pandemic period (2020-21 and 2021-22), total nine libraries in Nagpur district closed down. Interestingly, in 2018-19, the public libraries in the district got the highest aid during the period of five years.
In 2017-18, as per the official data, public libraries in the district received aid of Rs 2.29 crore. It was followed by 2018-19, when the libraries received the aid of Rs 2.49 crore. In 2019-20, the district got aid of Rs 1.62 crore. In 2020-21, the amount of aid declined further to Rs 1.63. There was an increase in 2021-22 when the public libraries in the district received aid of Rs 1.9 crore. In the current financial year 2022-23, the district has received Rs 42.67 lakh for public libraries as the first instalment.
In another disclosure, the Office of the District Library Officer informed Kolarkar that 34 out of the total 437 posts in public libraries in the district are vacant. This is affecting the functioning of the libraries. According to an official, the closure of the public libraries in the district could be attributed to the readers moving towards digital reading instead of hard copy of books. Besides, readers have been placing more reliance on audio-visual aid.
The RTI reply further pointed out that people visit public libraries to read newspapers. The visitors to public libraries, apart from readers, consist of students preparing for competitive examinations. A major aspect was lack of proper publicity to the libraries and the treasure of books they have on shelf.
