Daily Times

The central instrument of change in a modern society is information. Libraries are thus extremely important and irreplaceable. For one thing, they are the backbone of any system of education. They collect, stock, process, organize, disseminate and distribute information. They are also a storehouse of ideas and inspiration for the people.

Public libraries are not mere resource centres. Ideally, they also provide communal spaces where people can peruse books, newspapers and magazines and can engage in scholarly pursuits and interact with others on similar quests. Sadly, public libraries in Pakistan are undergoing a dark era. The Qadir Bux Bedil Sindh Government Public Library in Shikarpur, once called the Friends Society Library, one of the oldest in Pakistan, faces the same fate.

Last week, I paid a visit to the library, located at the city. It is the only public library in the district. During my unemployment days, I used to spend a lot of time here studying books, newspapers and magazines available at the library. Currently, the library building comprises two big air conditioned reading halls – one for book reading and another for newspapers reading – two smaller rooms and a big hall where shelves are stacked. There is a office for the librarian and a computer room where about 10 computers are installed. The internet facility is available. There are two more rooms at some distance from the main building. These were initially meant for children and women. Now, they are being used to store old newspapers and as book readers’ room.

This is a historical library. According to the official gazette, the Friends Society, a one-room library, was established near Lakhi Dar. Narayan Jagan Nath, a Maharashtra Brahmin, whom the British government had appointed as an assistant education inspector in Sindh in 1861 and elevated to the post of deputy educational inspector later, took a keen interest in the progress of the library. He made tremendous efforts to erect a large building for the library. As a result of his efforts for three years, a splendid building consisting of several rooms was completed in 1876 on the Railway Station Road near the City Magistrate’s Office building with public subscription and generous donations by the Shikarpur Municipality and the Local Board. The one-room library was shifted to the new building and renamed Narayan Jagan Nath Library. In 1938, the old structure of the library building was replaced by a new one at a cost of Rs 50,000.

According to the district gazette, the Friends Society, a one-room library, was established near Lakhi Dar, in the heart of Shikarpur city in 1873, 146 years ago

After independence, the library was renamed as the Municipality Library. In 1974, a the building was reconstructed in a triangular form by Shikarpur Municipality at a cost of Rs 148,000 and again renamed as Narayan Jagan Nath Library. Qazi Abdul Qadir, the political secretary of Mumtaz Ali Bhutto, the then chief minister of Sindh, performed the opening ceremony.

On May 2, 1988, the Culture Department of the provincial government took administrative control of the library. The department decided to rename the library after Qadir Bukhsh Bedil, one of the most celebrated Sufi poets and a scholar of great stature. It thus became the Qadir Bukhsh Bedil Sindh Government Public Library, Shikarpur. In 2009, a spacious hall was constructed from the MPA’s fund and in 2010 the Culture Department of Sindh constructed two rooms for children and women readers.

According to the librarian, the library has a collection of more than 35,000 books in Sindhi, Urdu, Arabic, English, and Persian languages. The library purchases 25 Newspapers and 15 weekly, fortnightly and monthly periodicals in Sindhi, Urdu and English.

The number of daily visitors is more than 400. The facilities in the library are free of cost. The CNIC of a reader borrowing a book to read is kept as a surety. Many of the visitors are college students. Many are young people preparing for entry tests for admissions in universities and colleges. They use the space to study from their own books and other material. A large number of students from Jacobabad and Kandhkot-Kashmore districts also visit the library as the districts lack public libraries and coaching centres for entry tests.

The library runs in two shifts. It opens at 9am and closes at 7pm from Monday to Thursday. On Fridays, it opens at 9am and closes at 1pm. After a one-hour break for prayers it opens again at 2pm and closes at 7pm. On Saturdays and Sundays the library remains closed. On every Sunday, the Sindhi Adabi Sangat holds literary and scholarly gatherings in the newspaper reading hall.

The library lacks some basic facilities. The biggest problems is an acute shortage of furniture and the non-availability of researchers in the CSS and PCS, female and children’s sections. The seating capacity being limited, it can hardly accommodate 200 readers at a time out of the 400 regular visitors. There are only two toilets. Cleanliness is a serious problem. There is no proper cataloguing of books. As a result it sometimes takes two to three hours to locate a book. The library is seriously short of staff. Against a sanctioned strength of 27, only 10 are working here and five serving elsewhere.

Eight years ago, the Culture Department had provided a standby generator. However, the library lacks funds to buy fuel to operate it. It has to do therfore with a smaller generator and a solar panel system to light up LED bulbs and to run ceiling fansduring load-shedding hours. The air conditioning plant and the water cooler, installed three years ago are insufficient.

The Sindh government should pay attention to the development of the library. It needs to construct and extend seeral sections. The valuable collection of old and rare books needs scanning and archiving. There is a need also for an auditorium to host debates and public lectures. Shikarpur also needs a museum.