ISLAMABAD, June 17: As many as 20,000 of the Quaid-i-Azam University’s (QAU) library books are missing, according to reliable sources.

With such a large number of books amiss, the annual stock-taking report has not been prepared by the management since 1996.

A concerned official said the situation was entirely due to indifferent attitude of the university administration.

“The managers are least concerned about the dilapidated condition of the library or whether it is serving its purpose or not,” he lamented.

He further informed this reporter that the findings of an inquiry into the matter had not been made public due to unknown reasons.

He said some of books were sold out and later shown as waste paper by successive librarians and some stolen by students due to lax security arrangements.

An official appointed at the library gate, who requested anonymity for fear of a backlash from students, said they were unable to impose tight security due to the overbearing attitude of students.

They added that the varsity administration had not been supportive of the initiatives of library officials to stop the pilferage of books. Books continue to be stolen by some students, he further said.

The library, named after the first VC of the varsity, Dr Raziuddin, was established in 1982 mainly for research purposes. It consists of a total of 150,000 books but has not been maintained properly due to mismanagement, scarcity of funds and lack of library culture in the country.