May 29, 2007

Reader crunch cuts library hours

Problem: Students are not reading enough and shying away from the university libraries.

Solution: Slash library hours and save on electricity and other expenses.

The solution may surprise many, but the authorities at the 150-year-old Calcutta University are not bothered.

Following a string of surveys on hours spent by students in the university’s 40-odd departmental libraries, the officials have decided to reduce library timings by an hour. “We have seen that libraries are getting nearly empty after 4 pm… So, we have decided to change the timings,” confirmed Soumitra Sarkar, librarian, Calcutta University.

The departmental libraries will remain open from 10.30am to 5.30pm instead of the earlier schedule, between 11.30am and 7.30pm. But timing of the central library on the College Street campus will remain unchanged. The university’s library committee took the decision last week and it will be placed before the syndicate for final approval.

Though the library committee has data to support its stand, a section of teachers is not happy with the decision. “Library timings in institutions of higher education should not depend on the number of users. University libraries should be kept open till late in the evening, even if there is a single reader,” said a senior professor of the university’s Alipore campus, which houses many of the social science departments.

Institutions like the IITs and the IIMs, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University and Mumbai University have longer library hours (see box). According to data available with the library committee, the cut in reading hours can be linked to increasing use of the Internet for data and reference material. Easy availability of readymade notes has been cited as the other reason behind the slump in study hours in libraries.

“Whatever be the trend, students should be encouraged to come to libraries,” said Dhrubo Jyoti Chatterjee, the university’s dean of science. “One should also check if the students are finding the libraries helpful or not… Steps should be taken to attract students into the libraries,” said Swapan Bhattacharya of the sociology department.

The fact that despite round-the-clock Internet connectivity in hostel rooms, students of IITs and IIMs can be found in the libraries even at midnight is an example that students do flock to the library if the visit is fruitful.

The departmental libraries of Calcutta University store books, magazines and journals and some computers. “It is very simple… If collection of books improves and the number of computers increases, more students will come,” said a postgraduate sociology student.

Filed under Education by Ashish Bagla