A destition for students, readers!

bin Chandra Bordoloi Library

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, March 28: bin Chandra Bordoloi Library at Panbazar, Guwahati is the destition in Guwahati for those who often get their noses in books.

Even in this cyber age when online materials pose a tough challenge to books, this library has the footfall of 50 to 60 people, mostly students, everyday. This is indeed a success story at a time when students skip library for Internet cafes. This has also proved it yet again that the publication industry will continue to survive amidst the challenges from online publications.

What is glaring is that the library benefitted the students of Handique Girls’ College and Cotton College the most, maybe because of the advantage of their locations. Students from other colleges in the city are hardly seen to visit the library, as though they are yet to grow the culture of visiting this library. When the culture of visiting a particular library is grown, distance in the city cannot be a hindrance nowadays.

This library benefits students the most since it has a good collection of books of all subjects of all streams. It has a collection right from Borgeet to Kotha Ramaya and amgosha. What is remarkable is that a large number of very old books have still been kept intact here. There are books priced at just Rs 10, Rs 15 and the like.

According to those manning the library, the books are not allowed to be taken home. A reader can read the books in the reading room of the library or can get them Xeroxed.  A Xerox machine has been installed in the library for those who want to get books Xeroxed.

According to the officials, the library has a collection of 5,567 copies of different English books, 8,512 copies of different Assamese books and 500 copies of different Hindi books. This apart, since 2000 the library has been keeping newspapers regularly. It keeps 14 Assamese dailies, 15 English dailies and some Hindi dailies regularly so as to keep its readers updated with news.

Talking to this reporter, some students of Handique Girls’ College said: “We’re highly benefitted by this library. We need a lot of study materials that are not available in one book. Sometimes we can’t get such materials even after paying the right money. However, the collection of this library helps us solve such problems.”