THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Library is the heart of an educational institution, said former President Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishan. Realising the importance of a modern library in raising the quality of higher education, government colleges are slowly going the hi-tech way.
The latest addition is Government College For Women in the capital which can now boast of a modern library that is in tune with the latest technological advancements.
Education Minister C Raveendranath threw open the library to the students and teachers of the college on Thursday. Constructed in an eco-friendly manner by Habitat Group of noted architect G Sankar, the four-storeyed library building was completed in less than one-and-a-half years with a cost of around Rs three crore.
The library provides users with the facility to access over one lakh e-books and more than 4,000 e-journals. The e-journals can be accessed free of cost as they have been supplied under a University Grants Commission (UGC) scheme. The e-books and e-journals can be accessed on the third floor which is earmarked as a Research section and Cyber Centre.
The key attraction of the library is the second floor, which houses old and rare volumes. According to Government Women’s College principal D Ushakumari, Rs 10 lakh has been allocated by the government for digitising the rare volumes. The work will soon be carried out.
The ground floor houses the general reading section, periodicals section, automated issue, return counter and reference bookshelves. The first floor has been kept apart as a stack area for general books. A reprographic section is also housed on the first floor.
Users of the college library will now won’t have to hunt for books that they need from over 170 shelves. “Using the latest software, they can trace the location of the book and also know its availability by typing a few keywords,” said N Vijayakumar, selection grade librarian.
Every floor has computers equipped with Online Public Access Catalogue facility. The Internet is also provided in the library and plans are afoot to introduce WiFi facility soon.