Anjuman Behbood-e-Bashindigan, Block J, North Nazimabad, Karachi, owns a unique library where hundreds of students from nearby vicinities flock daily to concentrate on their studies. I have deliberately used an adjective ‘unique’ for the library as it provides maximum opportunities to its visitors which is rare in Karachi. It opens on weekly offs, public holidays and even on strikes. It also provides its visitors a day-long timing from 9am to 11pm. It has recently facilitated its visitors by installing three computers with internet.
On the other hand, many libraries in Karachi don’t provide maximum opportunities to their visitors as they are either public libraries or private libraries. Public libraries are not visitor-friendly as their staffers are not encouraging at all. As far as the private libraries are concerned, their organisations under which they are run don’t have a will to finance their libraries. They just want to take advantage of their very presence from the government in the name of running a ‘welfare activity’.
Two weekly offs, public holidays, strikes and black days mar the progress of students determined to excel in their studies. Persistent load shedding, not to mention scheduled or unscheduled, and political turmoil in the metropolis also hinder the progress of students.
I, therefore, appreciate the people behind the library as they have made a wonderful contribution on their own. Now the students residing in the nearby areas can get best out of their schedules. I also request the government of the hour and the organisations patronising public and private libraries respectively in Karachi to extend their libraries timings and try their utmost to make libraries visitor-friendly. I also request the Anjuman to subscribe maximum number of newspapers from home and abroad and widen its book sections as much as it could. Widening a book section of any library is not a problem now as every library should follow the model adopted by the Bedil Library, Sharfabad, Karachi, whose chief librarian Muhammed Zubair uses his personal contacts to invite attention of the people who have their personal book collections to donate either their entire library or a section.
JAWED AHMED KHURSHEED
Karachi
