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Lifters feast on public libraries

Over 40,000 books gone missing in decades; sheer negligence of authorities blamed

Alpha Arzu
Over 40,000 books of the public libraries across the country have gone missing in the past 41 years, thanks to the negligence of authorities in preserving rare books and manuscripts.
The number of books, newspapers and bulletins stolen from 68 public libraries is more than 40,000 as there was no effective system to make inventories of the books in those libraries, sources at cultural affairs ministry said.
The Director General of Directorate of Public Libraries, Nur Hussain Talukder, admitted the fact and said people involved in pinching books don't realise their importance.
Sources at the directorate said they already started enumerating the stock in 68 public libraries across the country in October 2005 following information that a huge number of
books went missing since the launch of the public library in 1968.
Before the Independence, the directorate made inventory of the books thrice, but no report was submitted in this regard.
Stocktaking should be done annually, said a library official, adding that manpower shortage hampers the annual counts.
The total collection of the directorate is around 1,75,000, and three to five percent books go missing annually, saida high official.
The Central Public Library renamed as Sufia Kamal National Public Library installed 12 closed-circuit televisions (CCTV) in its reading room to prevent book lifting. These CCTVs have long been out of order.
The book lifting increased manifold after the 24-hour service was initiated on July 26,2003.
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The initiative turned the library into a safe haven for drug addicts and vagabonds. The authorities later stopped the service in March 2004.
Suraiya Setu, a fourth-year student of the History department of Dhaka University, told The Daily Star, "I bought a book on American History from Nilkhet with a seal of the Central Public Library."
The cultural affairs ministry planned to begin stocktaking annually. "If you have the total number of the collection you can easily ascertain how many books have gone missing," said a ministry official.
More than 200 people were handed over to law enforcers for pinching books but as it did not prove effective the library authorities now hardly hand over anyone to police. The penalty for lifting book is Tk250.
Drug addicts on and around the Dhaka University campus come to the library, steal books and sell those to buy drugs, employees of the library said.
“We found empty bottles of Phensidyl dumped into the toilets that clogged the sewer system several times,” said another employee.
There are some genuine readers but a lot of youths use it as a safe haven for taking drug and stealing rare reference books, said a senior librarian.
“Petty, thieves in.the. guise . of readers also steal taps, bulbs and other goods from the library,” he added.
With limited manpower, the library authorities are not capable of keeping vigilance on so many people visiting the library, said an employee of the library.
The Central Public Library was opened to the public on March 22, 1968 with 10,040 books. On an average, 2,200 people visit the central library everyday.