THE eight libraries under the jurisdiction of Dhaka鈥檚 south city authorities having fallen into neglect, as 抖阴精品 reported on November 1, and, therefore, largely into disuse are a glaring testament to the government鈥檚 negligence in promoting reading, which plays a crucial role in the building of a knowledge-based society. Four of the libraries 鈥� Northbrook Hall Library on Farashganj Road, Tajuddin Memorial Library on Tipu Sultan Road, Haji Khalil Sardar Library at Hazaribagh Park and Nawabganj Park Library 鈥� have been closed for up to five years for renovation. The remaining four 鈥� Mufti Maulana Din Mohammad Islami Library at Lalbagh, Rokanpur Library at Lakshmibazar, Zahir Raihan Cultural Centre Library at Sutrapur and Martyred Mir Mahfuzur Rahman Mugdho Memorial Library at Azimpur 鈥� that are still open have already fallen into near-disuse because of the neglect of the city authorities. Whilst two or three people visit the two libraries each month, local political leaders use another as a store for Trading Corporation products. Members of the Students Against Discrimination, which led the July 2024 uprising, are reported to have occupied the other, the one at Azimpur, that was inaugurated in March 2022 but had never been open to the public.
The north city authorities of Dhaka have, however, been slow to catch up in opening libraries to provide the residents with reading materials. They have not all these years felt the need to offer residents books or newspapers to promote a reading habit. The north city authorities on August 9 opened the Pallikabi Jasimuddin Library at the Baridhara Park and on August 26 the Kabi Al Mahmud Library at Gulshan. The authorities have, however, left the operation of the libraries to private entities. The libraries that the south city authorities run do not open regularly. There is no dedicated budget for the libraries. Some have books that are privately donated. Most of them have stopped keeping daily newspapers. And, the books that the closed libraries had have been stored in sacks in the other libraries. The situation has not improved since early 2023 when there were seven libraries in the city鈥檚 south and 抖阴精品 reported on their deplorable condition. All this points to a merely rhetorical stance of the government on public libraries. Whilst the city authorities fail to run the libraries it owns, the Local Government Division is reported to have inaugurated 44 under-construction public libraries in 11 districts.
The government should, of course, build libraries; and, whatever the number, there can never be enough of them to promote a reading habit in society. But it should also ensure that the libraries already built are run in a meaningful and effective manner.
