Staff Crunch, Fund Deficit Cripple Iconic State Central Library in Afzalgunj
The Urdu section is being managed by one employee, while the Arabic and Persian sections have no dedicated staff.
Hyderabad:The State Central Library in Afzalgunj, which is one among the five biggest libraries in the country, is facing an acute staff shortage issue. More than 70 vacancies have been lying vacant for the past several years, forcing existing employees to take up additional responsibilities.
The Urdu section is being managed by one employee, while the Arabic and Persian sections have no dedicated staff. This is hampering books issuance as the staff are not well-versed with Persian language.
Several students and elders who visit the library regularly lamented that they are not being issued on demand books due to lack of funds for procuring them. As per rules, the books on demand have to be made available to readers within a week or 10 days. Compounding the issue is the lack of equipment, which has completely halted book binding works.
Set up by Moulvi Syed Hussain Bilgrami during the Nizam era in 1891, the Central Library was earlier known as Asafia State Library. After construction of the present building in Afzalgunj in 1936, it was moved here.
Presently, the library houses more than 5 lakh books, including some of the rarest books, and subscription to over 100 newspapers and magazines. It is also preserving some of the rare palm-leaf manuscripts.
Apart from lack of hiring, the library is facing budget issues for maintenance. When this correspondent visited the library, several book racks, particularly those in the Urdu section, accumulated dust and were not being maintained regularly.
As the racks have not been cleaned since long, library regulars and staff complained that they have been frequently suffering from dust allergies. Further, this massive collection of books is increasingly becoming fragile due to lack of preservation mechanisms and works.
“Why are the present governments ignoring the world-famous Asafia Library, built during Nizam rule, which was supposed to be modernised and developed,” a student P. Aditya questioned.
There are lakhs of old and rare books and manuscripts that have already been digitised but not uploaded on the library data portal, which will aid people from across the world to avail the facility, he added.
The library has lost much of its earlier readership, with only three to four people visiting the Urdu section a day.
The Heritage Building that houses the library has been under restoration for the past four years, but the work is still ongoing and there is ample space inside the two sides of the main entrance but there is no garden-like area in the compound where people can browse through books in the open environment. There are no proper arrangements for cleaning in the library compound, there is no garden-like environment.
Despite repeated calls, the garbage collector does not lift the garbage and. The library is also frequently facing drainage water overflow.
Another library regular, Vishwaraj said the State government should focus on this library that has shaped careers of lakhs of students. He wanted the educational institutions to make library visits mandatory to the present generation to inculcate the habit of reading books.
