NT NETWORK
PANAJI
With an aim to bring in a revolution in library movement and in order to develop a culture of reading in the state, the government has initiated a process of streamlining the functioning of village libraries, run by the directorate of art and culture.
Coming out with this information on Monday, Minister for Art and Culture Govind Gaude told ‘The Navhind Times’ that the government has decided to make all village libraries, run by his department, model libraries, by providing all necessary infrastructure and financial support.
According to the information received from the directorate of art and culture, there are 178 government-run libraries in the state including the central library in Panaji and a district library in Margao besides seven taluka libraries. Ninety eight libraries are being managed by non-government organisations (NGOs), 56 are managed by village panchayats, two by municipal councils and three by the department at the village level.
Gaude said that the government has decided to emphasise on revamping of the village library network. He said that he has already instructed the curator and library inspectors to provide details of the libraries that are closed down. “I have already reviewed the functioning of all the libraries wherein I found that people from urban areas have been taking more benefits of these libraries. However, in the villages, the people have not been getting much of the benefits. Therefore, I have decided to focus on village libraries,” he said.