KU library submits Rs. 15-lakh expansion proposal

By G. Mahadevan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JUNE 18. The Kerala University Library has submitted a Rs. 15-lakh expansion proposal to the Kerala University for its formal approval and sanction of funds.

The expansion project for the space-starved library conceptualised by the Deputy Librarian, Mr. Parameswaran, and drawn up by M/s Habitat Constructions, envisages a three-storeyed annexe of 2,700 sq.ft at the place where the library canteen is now located. The plan calls for the retention of the canteen on the ground floor of the new complex and extension of the Library to the other two floors.

According to the library authorities, the annexe can be used to house old books that need to be weeded out from the shelves of the library. ``At present, whatever new books we purchase and add to our shelves are lost in a sea of old crumbling books that have been more or less been unused for the past so many years. If we can weed out this collection, we can make our shelves more attractive and up-to-date,'' explains Mr. Parameswaran.

The library has an impressive collection of back volumes of numerous newspapers; some volumes are said to be available only here. Though such a collection is valuable, the lack of proper display space has forced the library to confine its newspaper collection which is not being put to the kind of use it can be. The back volumes of newspapers will be vying with the weeded-out books for space in the new annexe.

One area in the library about which no one would like to speak is the fourth floor of the stack room, the so-called closed reference section. Housed in this section are books and other materials that are too crumbled or moth-eaten to be used. Only in very rare instances are members allowed to refer the material here. These books and remnants of books will be in all probability transferred to the new annexe. If that is done, the entire sweep of the imposing top floor of the stack room will be available for more productive use.

There are sections in the library that badly need more space. The U.N. section and the reference section are but two sections that can readily be cited as examples. While in the case of the U.N. section, a leaking extension room built by a Government agency has prevented any expansion, the reference room has retained its size right from the early days of the library. Though there are tentative proposals to convert the terrace of the double-height reference room into a big hall, basic structural stability studies are yet to be initiated.

There is concern among the university authorities that the 2,700 sq.ft. annexe may prove to be grossly inadequate to meet the real space requirements of the library. Though initially the idea was to get three floors of 2,000 sq. ft. each, the existing building regulations permit only the total floor area that has been now arrived at.

Six months ago, the Syndicate of the Kerala University had taken an in-principle decision to provide an annexe for the library. However, since the university itself is now desperately short of funds, it has now reportedly decided to try and rope in the services of Mr. V.S. Sivakumar, MP, to get the necessary finance for the expansion scheme, from his MP's fund.

The library authorities are hoping that the expansion scheme gets under way at the earliest so as to avoid any unmanageable escalation in the project estimate.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : Police open fire on attacking IUML workers
Next     : Fall in SSLC pass percentage