“Alas! Nobody these days reads books.” We frequently hear such sentences from book lovers.
This perception is true to a great extent. Most of the learned people of our society remain pessimistic about the reading habits of our nation.
In this scenario, it gives delight to know that around 1000 students use the Mahmood-ul-Hasan Library of the Karachi University every day. Although this place is not as crowded as the arts lobby or the canteens, a majority of its seats remain filled, which gives us some hope that reading culture has not died altogether.
One thousand may seem too little a number in a university that enrols 22,000 girls and boys, but it must be considered that every department has got its own library, which meets the needs of most of the students.
The Mahmood-ul-Hasan Library boasts of housing more than 350,000 books. This three-storeyed library is divided into 24 sections. The Stake Section, set up in the basement, has more than 300,000 books. These include academic, literary, religious, and research books. But the novels found here are the among the most read books.
The central library has 12 reading rooms including dedicated rooms for study of physical sciences books and social sciences books. Six are general reading rooms. Most of the students seen in these rooms are girls.
Science books–16,000 in all–constitute four percent of all books. This amply tells us why we have failed to progress materially.
A book bank is not essential to a library, but in an academic institution its absence may feel like a black hole. The book bank attached with the KU library provides books for a semester or even a year against payment of 20 percent of their price. Most of those who get books from here are girls. Boys say they get books from here only to impress others.
Pakistan Collection, Qauid-e-Azam Collection and UN Collection enjoy a prominent position in the library. The library also possesses a number of handwritten documents and books.
Every university in the country must have its library but Mahmood-ul-Hasan Library is distinct in that it has got books that have been read by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of the nation. A section on the first floor of the library has 1,135 books and furniture, which were once the possession of the father of the nation. This treasure reached here in 1967 after the demise of Fatima Jinnah.
This century is the century of information technology. Pakistan’s IT sector is among the world’s fastest growing ones. Keeping with this trend, the KU has provided internet facility to readers here. Mrs Wasim Ra’ana, the librarian, says the computer library provides readers facilities of internet, printing and scanning.
Since the university has grown in number of students and departments, it is being considered to construct a new block for the library to meet the needs of newcomers, officials told The News Tribe.
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