PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Society of Criminology has set up a research library in Peshawar for postgraduate students and MPhil, LLM and PhD scholars of all educational institutions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The library is established on self-help basis by local scholars and practitioners in collaboration with like-minded government officers, researchers, journalists, columnists, poets, novelists, university academics and literary figures, said a news release issued here on Tuesday.

According to the release, a small building has been acquired for the ‘Research Library Peshawar’ on Warsak Road in the provincial capital.

“The library has a marvelous and rare collection of books on literature, Islamic studies, Pakistan studies, history, foreign affairs, international relations, political science, biographies, criminology, policing science, sociology,

mysticism, poetry, social work, philosophy and dictionaries. Reference books of Urdu, Pashto, Persian and English literature are the most precious assets of the library.”

President of the society Fasihuddin has donated around 7,000 reference books from his personal collection to Research Library Peshawar, which has been established in view of the need of research material for scholars of universities and candidates for both central and provincial competitive examinations for civil services.

“At the library, the researchers will find not only high quality books but also modern reading material and the latest journals and magazines like Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Newsweek, Time and The Economist.

The library also has the latest journals on literature, especially those recognised by the Higher Education Commission,” the release said.

The release said it was regrettable that Peshawar, a city of over three million population, didn’t have a single library like Research Library Peshawar.

It said Research Library Peshawar had an advisory board comprising scholars and officers, including Professor Qibla Ayaz, retired Major-General Siddique Malik, Syed Akhtar Ali Shah, Professor Tehseen Firaqi, Dr Javed Manzar, Dr Najeeba Arif, Professor Nazir Tabassum, Agha Gul, Syed Jamaluddin Shah, Bushra Farrukh, Dr Hafiz Maqsood Ahmad, Javed Aziz, Ishaq Wardag, Sumera Farid, Sanober Saba and Imran Ahmad Sajid.

According the release, the library needs more reference books, certain modern equipment, and money to meet establishment and operational costs.

“In view of the increasing interest of young scholars and researchers, there is a need for expansion and construction of an auditorium in the library for organising talks and lectures by experts and professionals,” it said.