The 120 year old Punjab Public Library
(PPL), the biggest library in Pakistan, has been decaying
for several years because of a lack of funds and administrative
problems.
Acting Chief Librarian Nusrat Ali Aseer
said the library was not being paid proper attention.
The problems faced by the administration, staff and library
users have multiplied since 1990 and the number of visitors
has gone down accordingly. Mr Aseer said the library faced
various problems relating to preservation, the space available
for books, administrative issues and most importantly,
a lack of funds.
“There is a general rule whereby
one quarter of the shelf is to be left empty so that the
books can be saved from fungus attacks. In this library,
shelves are almost full.” No new shelves had been
built in to the library in 10 years.
Mr Aseer said some people had stopped
visiting the library because important books on science,
art, religion and other fields were missing. He said the
library should have at least ten copies of each book,
but the PPL had only one copy of several books which was
insufficient for a library of its size. He said no major
purchase of new books or new editions of old books had
been bought in the last 15 years.
He said the PPL presently had 33,000 general
members, 1,600 life members and 1,687 child members. A
registration card could be purchased for Rs 10 allowing
users to read in the library. Mr Aseer said the library
got around 70 to 120 regular visitors daily with almost
150 to 200 others coming for research purposes. He said
that the PPL presently had 375,000 books. “People
from various parts of the world come to visit the library
and enjoy its vast collection of books.”
Mr Aseer said the PPL received Rs 6 million
annually from the Punjab government. He said almost Rs
5.5 million was paid in salaries and the remaining Rs
0.5 million was not enough to manage the library. There
wasn’t even enough money to whitewash the building
in the last 10 years. The Lahore Municipal Corporation
had granted the library Rs 100,000 annually, but that
grant stopped when the district government was set up
in its place.
He pointed out that the Quaid-e-Azam library,
also located in Lahore, got Rs 17.5 million annually from
the government, though it was much smaller in terms of
size, prestige and number of books.
The PPL also lacked efficient staff. MrAseer
said the post of chief librarian, deputy chief librarian,
three grade 17 posts and other positions of a lower rank
were vacant. He said were these vacancies filled, the
PPL would require Rs 8 million annually to pay its salaries.
The PPL was established in 1884 by Punjab
Lieutenant Governor Lord Aitchison, who wanted a public
library that would cater to all classes of society. There
was indeed a time when the PPL functioned efficiently
and was a source of pride for Pakistan. However, the cold
and indifferent attitude of the authorities has reduced
it to an inefficient, deteriorating institution.
