RU students deprived of hall libraries
Residential students of Rajshahi University (RU) are being deprived of library facilities in the halls due to unscheduled closure of the libraries and lack of books and space in the reading rooms.
According to the residential students, the libraries and reading rooms of 10 out of 16 halls remain closed most of the time while the remaining six open without any fixed schedule.
Requesting anonymity, an official of Shaheed Suhrawardy Hall said, “Students show little interest in coming to the hall's library due to the low number of books available.”
Only 81 books were bought for the library since its inception in 1995, he said.
The students are falling behind in their studies as they do not get the library and reading room facilities, stated many residents of Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Hall.
A resident of Sher-e-Bangla Hall, Soumitro Roy, said he always found their hall's library and reading room closed in the three years since he started residing in the hall.
A resident of Madar Baksh Hall, Lutfar Rahman, said, “The reading room in my hall has around five to six chairs for some 1,000 students. So I hardly get a chance to study there.”
Venting anger over the insufficient facilities, another resident of the hall, Rintu Biswas, alleged that the hall authorities are reluctant to pay any heed though each student pays Tk 30 for this facility while getting the hall seats.
During a visit, this correspondent found libraries and reading rooms of eleven boys' dormitories, except Shaheed Habibur Rahman Hall, and five female dormitories locked.
Many students of the female halls said the libraries had no fixed opening and closing hours.
Book numbers at the halls are insufficient and the available ones are very old and damaged, they added.
A resident of Munnojan Hall, Fouzia Mousumi, said, “The number of books in the hall library is so limited that I never found any book of my interest and the space in the reading room is so cramped that only ten students can sit there at a time.”
Officials of the halls said the hall libraries remained shut due to shortage of sufficient budget and manpower and adequate space in the reading rooms.
Deputy Registrar Hamidur Rahman of Shaheed Shamsuzzoha Hall said they only get Tk 1,500 as annual development allocation for the hall library and this amount is insufficient.
Ayub Ali, section officer of Ziaur Rahman Hall, said they purchased 400 books in the last 10 years since the hall's library was established.
Suhrawardy Hall Provost Prof Akhter Faruque said they do not get the necessary funds to enrich and operate the libraries and reading rooms.
“Now-a-days students are not interested in coming to the library as most of them depend on photocopies for academic purposes,” he added.
Over the allocation for the hall libraries, RU Central Library Administrator Prof Dr Bidhan Chadra Das said, “We can not do anything more in this regard.”
Admitting the reality, RU Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof Muhammad Nurullah said, “We will take necessary steps to ensure quality education for the students.”
RU Vice Chancellor Prof Abdus Sobhan was not available for comment.
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