Videos courtesy: Anjali Saini
By Qamar ZJ & Aratrika Dey
At a time when everybody is struggling to get past the gloom of the pandemic, here comes some good news. Whitefield gets its own digital public library after a ten-year wait. This book-full of wonder is situated in Thubarahalli, Mahadevapura Zone, Whitefield. It should not be mistaken for an IT company office space tweets Anjali Saini, a Whitefield resident. The 76-second video that accompanies the tweet, is much like a brief virtual tour of the library set up by the BBMP library department and run by the Department of Public Libraries. So far, there are 272 city central libraries spread across Karnataka. Before Bengaluru, Chamarajnagar, Haveri, Mysore, and Tumkur got their first digital libraries. The other regular libraries in Bengaluru that have been turned into digital libraries include the ones in Jayanagar (Southend Circle), KH Road, Malleswaram (Sampige Road), RT Nagar, Vijayanagar (RPC Layout and MC Layout), and Rajajinagar. All the 272 libraries across the state now have two PCs, and four tablets with Wi-Fi access, a nation first.
Ten-years in the making
Nine years ago, local MLA Aravind Limbavali promised to set up a digital library. This was during his first term as the MLA of the Mahadevapura constituency. However, the initiative lacked swiftness as only half the building was constructed during his debut term. The citizens kept pushing the authorities to complete the project. “It was the need of the hour as access to digital resources was essential,” says Anjali. The library building was finally finished in 2017 even though the library space remained unfurnished and without books. In the meantime, rumour was that the unfurnished building was going to be used as a party office by the elected representatives. But much to everybody’s relief, it turned out to be just that: hearsay.
Social distancing ensured; Rs 200 membership fee
The reading space runs into two floors. The first floor has all the computers with dividers installed between each machine to ensure social distancing. There are several shelves packed with books in English and Kannada, and a small reception area where librarian Lavanya serves the visitors. The second floor of the library serves as a reading-only area. There are several rows of books, newspapers, and magazines; the choice is endless. Currently, because they are in the process of putting their inventory together, the library has subscriptions to almost thirty newspapers and 22,000 books, which will shortly go up to 50,000. Every person is eligible for a life-time membership. All you need is your Aadhaar card, four passport-sized photographs and a nominal fee of Rs 200.
Perks of having a digital public library
The library has a customised portal for its members. Once you are registered as a member, you are given a username and password. There are various e-books, e-journals, essays and newspaper collections to pick from.
It is a safe space for everyone who follows all the COVID-19 protocols. Not only do you get to read books and newspapers, but also engage in research and work on college assignments if you are a student.
The beauty of digital libraries is also that you can also access them from anywhere in the world. All you need is a login and password. Just visit the Karnataka Digital Public Library and register yourself for free by providing your name, mobile number, and email ID. Pick the library from the dropdown menu and sign up. Verify with OTP, and you are good to go. Later, you can download the Digital Library App named “e-Sarvajanika Granthalaya” on your smartphones and access the content in Kannada, English, Hindi, Urdu and Marathi. However, you cannot download any content.
