Dy Accountant General visits SPS Library Calls for sustained technological intervention to revitalize public libraries

SRINAGAR : Deputy Accountant General, J&K, Mr Ankush Kumar (IA&AS), visited SPS Library Complex today, as a part of the general audit process, for on spot assessment of the library infrastructure there. He was accompanied by Mr Khurshid Ahmad Qazi, Sr Audit Officer, Mr Vinay Bhalothia, Assistant Audit Officer & Mr Khalid Mukhtar Bhat, Supervisor.
The Deputy Accountant General visited various sections of the library including Senior Citizens section, Children’s Section, Manuscript section, Book Stacks section and the General Reading Halls.
He was informed that established in 1898, SPS Library has a collection of around 80000 books and the library is witnessing regularly a huge footfall of library users while its Reading Halls remain jampacked.
During his visit to the Manuscript section, the Deputy Accountant General was informed that the Oriental Research Library established in 1904, is a repository of around 6000 centuries old manuscripts and rare books in 17 languages encompassing varied fields.
He was informed that the manuscript collection of ORL is a treasure-trove of religious, philosophical, historical, literary and scientific writings in classical languages like Persian, Sanskrit and Arabic.
While interacting with the students present in the Reading Halls of the library, the Deputy Accountant General called for augmenting reading spaces with adequate facilities to facilitate mentoring of students for various competitive examinations as a part of the overall Youth Development Initiative.
Mr Kumar expressed great satisfaction over a large number of students using the centrally located and well-maintained library facility to prepare for various competitive exams.
Terming Public Libraries as key social institutions, Mr Kumar said the libraries have the potential to make a dramatic difference in the empowerment of people, especially the youth. “In the fast-changing knowledge scenario, there is a pressing need for implementing a new vision through technological intervention for public library revitalization to transform them from collection–oriented institutions to service–based institutions,” he said and asked the Department to make continuous efforts towards improvement of library services for every section of the society including youth, senior citizens, women and children.
The Deputy Accountant General was informed that during the past 4 years, the reading space in SPS Library has been increased from 90 seats to the existing 350 seats with a dedicated reading hall being established for the girls and free study material made available in Public Libraries to help students prepare for various competitive examinations like Civil Services, NEET, JEE, CAT and CLAT etc.
He was informed that new library buildings have been constructed during this period for District Library Baramulla, Tehsil Library Aishmuqam & Tehsil Library Kreeri while additional accommodation has been constructed for existing libraries including District Library Pulwama, District Library Budgam, District Library Kupwara, Tehsil Library Chrar-e-Sharief, Tehsil Library Kulgam and Tehsil Library Handwara.
New library buildings are under construction for Gani Memorial UT Central Library at Rajouri Kadal, Srinagar; Tehsil Library Ganderbal, Tehsil Library Bandipora; Tehsil Library Tral; Tehsil Library Bijbehara; Tehsil Library Gurez & Tehsil Library Tanghdar.
After visiting various sections of the SPS Library Complex and interacting with the students present in the Reading Halls of the Library, the Deputy Accountant General held a marathon meeting with the officers and officials of the Department of Libraries & Research to discuss issues like physical infrastructure, financial matters, new initiatives and need for digital transformation of public libraries in J&K.
The Deputy Accountant General expressed satisfaction over the facilities available in the SPS Library for the library users.