BHUBANESWAR: Members of Odisha Society of America (OSA) have urged the State Government to make adequate budget allocation for implementation of the Odisha Public Library Act, 2001 and development of a well-integrated smart public library system.
In a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, they sought a roadmap to cover all district and block-level public libraries under an integrated library system.
The members also requested the Chief Minister to provide high speed broad band internet connectivity to public libraries with computer labs, audio visual and internet-enabled seminar and meeting rooms and pass a resolution to allocate funds annually towards their maintenance from the upcoming financial year.
“Radio Frequency Identification-enabled library cards should be issued to the users to streamline the service in the State,” they said. OSA president Kuku Das stated all public libraries and related functions should be brought under one umbrella for better collaboration, ownership, accountability, time-bound results and effectiveness of the library service in the State. “The State Government should involve IT experts or NIC and build a comprehensive central database of public libraries in Odisha through a detailed survey. It should also build state-of-the-art web portals that will provide key insights about the libraries with geo-tagging facilities,” he said.
They also proposed to lunch a ‘Mo Public Library’ scheme with donation matching programmes similar to ‘Mo School’ and ‘Mo College’ initiatives to support and promote public libraries in Odisha.