Tarun Karthick
Campbell Bay, 20 September 2021
Andaman and Nicobar Islands recorded 86.63% of its population as literate during the 2011 census. The high literacy rate is a boon for the Islands as its population can develop skills and gain knowledge themselves from the infinite pool of resources easily accessible in today’s world. The Islands have a network of public libraries located from Diglipur in North Andaman to Campbell Bay in the Great Nicobar Island.
Some of these public libraries have been serving the Islands for decades and have not been renovated for years. Good number of books are available in these libraries for the general public but these facilities are often under-utilised partly because of lack of awareness and partly because getting a membership is not easy.
Nicobar Times inspected the Zonal Library of Campbell Bay recently and found no readers there during the evening hours. The In-charge of the Zonal Library informed us that visits to the Zonal Library of Campbell Bay is very rare and often he sits ideal because no one turns up.
Nicobar Times enquired about the procedure to obtain a membership of the Zonal Library and we were handed a form which had to be filled and signed by the applicant. There are three categories under which the members are enrolled in the Zonal Libraries. The first category is of Govt. Servants, the second is for employees working in Non-Govt Offices such as Banks and the third category is for Private Individuals. Apart from depositing a reasonable Caution Deposit for memberships, the applicants have to get a signature on the guarantee certificate.
The Govt. Servants have to obtain a signature on a Guarantee Certificate from the head of their office. The persons working in Non-Government Offices have to obtain a guarantee certificate from their controlling officer and the private individuals have to get a guarantee certificate from a Gazetted Officer of the Local Administration.
It would be easy for a Govt. Servant or a person working in a Non-Govt. Office to get guarantee certificate from the head of their office or controlling officer, but it is extremely difficult for a private person to get signature of a gazetted officer on a guarantee certificate.
Such bizarre rules need to be amended and easy membership norms needs to be introduced. The membership of public libraries should be available on payment of reasonable caution deposit and submission of identity and address documents. The library can create a database of contact information of its members and send reminders over email and SMS for the return of books.
The libraries located in remote regions face problems of delayed delivery of journals and periodicals. To popularise reading in the rural population, internet should be made available in all the libraries and devices should be installed where the readers can access electronic copies of journals as well as periodicals.
The infrastructure of these libraries should also be improved and well lit, properly ventilated rooms should be provided where readers can sit comfortably and enjoy reading their books.
There is an urgent need to take steps to promote reading culture in the Islands, as its diminishing very fast.