BAN THE BOOK: GOVT LIBRARIES GET STEP-MOTHERLY TREATMENT

By Frederick Noronha

PANJIM, May 14: A generation of Goans is being blocked from
getting a chance to shape its own ideas, thanks to the
lackadaisical attitude towards promoting state-funded libraries
in the state.

If money is available, it is not properly spent... or is not
spent at all. Libraries are denied the space they deserve. Goa's
apex library, the Central Library, functions with antiquated
computers and a lack of training to keep its staff updated on the
latest changes in computerised information-management.

So, how is Goa to enter the Knowledge Economy?

Some years back, the Goa government passed a law that said that a
"cess" would be collected from liquor sales, which would be used
to promote libraries.

Perhaps the very idea sounded weird -- promoting alcoholism for
a "good" cause. MLAs like Dr Kashinath Jalmi had then protested
over its implications.

But now, even with the money coming in from this source, there
seems to be little time or inclination among officials and
politicians to utilise this for the good cause.

Some time back, the State Library Council was set up. It is
expected to meet twice a year, but has met only once in mid-1998.

Cess collected under the non-starter Goa Public Libraries Act is
believed to have crossed Rs 500 lakh. But little has been
effectively utilised.

A couple of years ago, around Rs 17 lakh from the cess was used
for microfiling rare books from the Central Library and for
purchasing new books for village libraries.

It is learnt that the draft Goa Public Library Rules for
implementation of the Act has got caught up in red tape too.

Goa's number of government-run libraries has been falling over
the years. After a positive policy in the eighties -- by the then
new Congress government -- the number of Government-funded
village libraries peaked at around 105 in the early nineties.

This figure has collapsed to around seventy village libraries,
five taluka libraries and one state library run by the
government.

It is learnt that some forty libraries had to be closed down just
a few years back due to a range of reasons -- transferred
teachers, retirements, lack of funds, or simply a lack of
commitment to libraries.

Some of the government village libraries that were stopped were
handed over to non-profit organisations or panchayats. Some 85
libraries are run in this manner.

Libraries in the state are also poorly housed, indicative perhaps
of the low priority given to these venerable institutions by our
politicians and official decision-makers.

Since the 1970s talk was on to promote Central Library -- still
housed at the Institute Menezes Braganza in Panjim -- to a larger
premises. A plot was acquired over two decades back, then an
architect visited libraries for drawing plans. This was not
okayed by the government.

But later, an architectural contest called could not be held due
to a lack of funds.

Goa's Central Library is one of the oldest in India. It is almost
17 decades old.  

Promises were made to give the Central Library more space on the
Campal side of the building, after transferring existing offices
from there to the old GMC's RMO Hostel. But nothing has yet
happened on this front.

In an era of computers, the Internet and CDs, Goa's main library
is still struggling in the paper age. Only slow Internet access
exists.  

There was a proposal to extend Central Library's reader service
timing to 12 hours.

Even Goa's five taluka libraries are housed in dilapidated
buildings. Curchorem, the library with the highest membership, is
located amidst very unhygienic surroundings. Canacona library's
premises is not easily accessible to the public, so readership
has declined.

There is not sufficient information in Panjim on how the 85 or so
state-funded village libraries are running. Goa is still to get
libraries for its North and South Districts. Currently, students
from the entire state have to depend on the Central Library.

Goa's state legal services authority had requested the launching
of open district libraries, where law books dealing with Goa with
up-to-date amendments, rules, regulations and notifications are
available.

Ponda and Pernem needs its own taluka libraries too. Under the
Panchayat Act, village libraries come under the panchayats. But
most such institutions seem innocent about the need for
libraries. (ENDS)