Hassan Zilla Panchayat has taken up a programme to revive rural libraries with the active involvement of public and book donors. Imparting training for librarians, digitisation of libraries, improving basic facilities, and appealing to the public to donate books for the libraries are among the activities planned.
Of 267 gram panchayats in the district, 260 have got libraries. Earlier, they were monitored by the Department of Libraries. Now they have been handed over to the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj.
Kantharaju, Chief Executive Officer of ZP, on Saturday, told journalists, that a majority of the libraries did not have independent buildings. They had been running in a portion of the gram panchayat offices. “I agree, many libraries do not enough space for the readers to spend valuable time there. We are taking up measures to upgrade all the facilities so that more readers could visit libraries,” he said.
To begin with, 40 librarians will be sent for a training programme at Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayat Raj University at Gadag. The training would help the staff maintain the libraries well. As many as 47 libraries have been digitised. They would get e-books soon so that the readers could read them with the help of laptops or computers at the libraries. The Panchayat Development Officers had been instructed to ensure basic amenities including electricity supply, furniture, and internet facility among others for the libraries, the officer said.
“We are taking up a drive to collect books from the donors. With that, we will increase the number of titles. Kannada Sahitya Parishat has been actively involved in collecting books,” said Mr. Kantaraju. Besides that, the ZP is also taking up a drive to encourage people take up library membership, the officer added.
