Negligence cry against CU library facilities

Basic facilities in the Chittagong University (CU) central library are declining by the day due to alleged mismanagement and non-cooperation of its staff.

This state of affairs has adversely affected the opportunities sought by students at the library, which ironically boasts of a rich collection of books, journals, dictionaries, hand books, manuals, encyclopaedias, publishers’ catalogues, and government and university publications.

The collection also includes books in print as well as different publications of the United Nations, World Bank, different NGOs, UNESCO, IMF, World Almanacs, ILO, BBS, Maps, and UNICEF.

The three-storied library, which is located in front of the Arts Faculty building at the centre of the campus, has three large reading rooms for students and teachers of the varsity.

The library is supposed to remain open from 8 am to 8 pm on working days. But students complained that on most days, the library staff close the reading rooms at 6 pm, two hours ahead of the scheduled time. On some days, they close it around 7 pm. Students of the Science Faculty suffer the most due to early closure of the reading rooms as they are only able to go to the library after their practical classes end at 4.30 pm.

Iftekhar Noor Palash, a Science Faculty student, said, “We have to attend practical classes till 4.30 pm and then we go to the library. We don’t get enough time to study as the reading rooms close by 7 pm. This has hampered our daily studies.” Besides, there are two IPS in the reading rooms for uninterrupted power supply, but no proper operator to take care of them. As a result, activities in the reading rooms stop automatically during power cuts, encouraging the library staff to close them earlier, the students alleged.

Compounding the students’ woes, three of the four photocopiers in the library have been lying dysfunctional for the past few months.

“We are not allowed to take the books outside the library. That is why we depend on the photocopiers so much,” said Rubel Islam, a student of the Social Science Faculty. “However, we can't copy necessary parts from the books most of the time because of the long queues of students waiting to use the photocopy machines,” he added. Moreover, there is a lack of sufficient ceiling fans in the non-AC reading rooms, disrupting the study of students during summer.

There are two fans for six tables in the reading room for the Business Faculty and the Social Science Faculty, four fans for eight tables in the reference section, four fans for 14 tables for the Arts Faculty, and only one fan for six tables for the magazine section. A couple of years ago, the authorities had modernised the central library by installing a computerised automation system.

The authorities had installed a server and 12 computers to enable students, teachers and researchers to find out the desired books fast without having to search through manual catalogues. But now only four of the computers are working. They had also installed software donated by a teacher of the computer science department, but it does not work properly, said sources in the library.

Moreover, the use of aerosol sprays to preserve the books instead of fumigation has damaged several books, including rare ones, in the library.

The CU library, which had started its journey in 1968 with only 14,000 books and limited staff, now boasts of around three lakh books, 35,000 journals (binding), 60,000 rare books, 1,200 thesis papers, 1,750 research papers (photocopy), 4,000 Braille books and around 1,500 compact disks (CD) on different topics. It was launched on a temporary building covering a floor area of only 1,200 square feet.

Negligence cry against CU library facilities

Basic facilities in the Chittagong University (CU) central library are declining by the day due to alleged mismanagement and non-cooperation of its staff. This state of affairs has adversely affected the opportunities sought by students at the library, which ironically boasts of a rich collection of books, journals, dictionaries, hand books, manuals, encyclopaedias, publishers catalogues, and government and university publications. The collection also includes books in print as well as different publications of the United Nations, World Bank, different NGOs, UNESCO, IMF, World Almanacs, ILO, BBS, Maps, and UNICEF. The three-storied library, which is located in front of the Arts Faculty building at the centre of the campus, has three large reading rooms for students and teachers of the varsity. The library is supposed to remain open from 8 am to 8 pm on working days. But students complained that on most days, the library staff close the reading rooms at 6 pm, two hours ahead of the scheduled time. On some days, they close it around 7 pm. Students of the Science Faculty suffer the most due to early closure of the reading rooms as they are only able to go to the library after their practical classes end at 4.30 pm. Iftekhar Noor Palash, a Science Faculty student, said, We have to attend practical classes till 4.30 pm and then we go to the library. We dont get enough time to study as the reading rooms close by 7 pm. This has hampered our daily studies. Besides, there are two IPS in the reading rooms for uninterrupted power supply, but no proper operator to take care of them. As a result, activities in the reading rooms stop automatically during power cuts, encouraging the library staff to close them earlier, the students alleged. Compounding the students woes, three of the four photocopiers in the library have been lying dysfunctional for the past few months. We are not allowed to take the books outside the library. That is why we depend on the photocopiers so much, said Rubel Islam, a student of the Social Science Faculty. However, we cant copy necessary parts from the books most of the time because of the long queues of students waiting to use the photocopy machines, he added. Moreover, there is a lack of sufficient ceiling fans in the non-AC reading rooms, disrupting the study of students during summer. There are two fans for six tables in the reading room for the Business Faculty and the Social Science Faculty, four fans for eight tables in the reference section, four fans for 14 tables for the Arts Faculty, and only one fan for six tables for the magazine section. A couple of years ago, the authorities had modernised the central library by installing a computerised automation system. The authorities had installed a server and 12 computers to enable students, teachers and researchers to find out the desired books fast without having to search through manual catalogues. But now only four of the computers are working. They had also installed software donated by a teacher of the computer science department, but it does not work properly, said sources in the library. Moreover, the use of aerosol sprays to preserve the books instead of fumigation has damaged several books, including rare ones, in the library. The CU library, which had started its journey in 1968 with only 14,000 books and limited staff, now boasts of around three lakh books, 35,000 journals (binding), 60,000 rare books, 1,200 thesis papers, 1,750 research papers (photocopy), 4,000 Braille books and around 1,500 compact disks (CD) on different topics. It was launched on a temporary building covering a floor area of only 1,200 square feet.