BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday laid the foundation stone for transformation of Dr Harekrushna Mahatab State Library here.
As per the chief minister’s office (CMO), the transformation of the library will be carried out jointly by the department of Culture and Odisha Mining Corporation Limited (OMC). As part of the transformation plan, various facilities including an Aahar centre and Mission Shakti cafe for the visitors will be opened inside the library. The upgraded facilities include multilingual sections, children’s reading areas, study spaces, window seating space and a state-of-the-art conference facility.
This apart, the library will have comfortable lounge areas, quiet reading rooms, reading pods, book stacks halls and specially-abled accessible toilets. Moreover, integration of essential amenities such as water dispensers, emergency services, and seamless Wi-Fi connectivity will also be available for the visitors.
The transformed library will feature seating arrangements for up to 500 persons simultaneously. The implementation of a digitisation and automation drive will enable access to the library’s existing collection of books online.
Established in 1967, the state library was an initiative on literary enlightenment. On August 15, 1987, it was re-named as Dr Harekrishna Mahatab State Library. Since then, it has served as a vital source of knowledge for every segment of society, especially students.