BANGALORE: A visit to the city central library situated in Domlur during evening hours is not a pleasant one as mosquitoes keeps biting and haunting the readers. If this is not enough, there is neither any toilet nor drinking water facilities. This library is just a basket full of civic woes.
When City Express spoke to a few visitors at the library, mixed reactions came across. Chandra Shekar, a regular visitor at the library said, “It would be a great help if the library can provide toilet facilities for its readers.” He further added, “Earlier I used to come here during evening hours but the mosquitoe menace is impossible to bear. There is a cow shed nearby and this is the main cause for the mosquito attack.”
Another visitor, Som Shekar said, “reading space is a major issue here. The newspaper reading area is too small to accommodate the large numbers of reading public that gathers here during the morning hours. Even the reference section is kept locked most of the time, or else we could have spent some time there.”
The library is devoid of any fire safety equipment. However, amidst all the issues, the silver lining is that, the library has sufficient parking space, enough reference books and the much needed silence, far from the traffic woes.
As far as Internet facilities are concerned, there is none. Hence, the records are maintained in hard copies. Rajiv Bhardwaj, who is pursuing his final Bcom and also a resident here said, “The lack of sufficient space makes it difficult for students to come here and study, unlike other libraries in the city.”
When City Express contacted the Director of City Central Library, Venkatesh, he said, “As far as Internet facilities are concerned, money is not a issue, but buying the computers is a problem, as this involves lot of formalities with the various government departments. However, by this year, we will try to implement the Internet facilities in the branches.” He further added, “I will talk to the zonal officer concerned about the lack of toilet and drinking water facility and we will sort out this issue as soon as possible.”