Libraries play a pivotal role in enriching human capital and are said to be national assets. Unfortunately they have been badly overlooked by the Pakistani government.

The small number of libraries that exist in the country are also in the doldrums due to the lax attitude of the ruling class. The Government Model Town Library is the only library in the vicinity.

It is an excellent facility for students and readers but there is gross mismanagement in this library that discourages visitors.

The flippant attitude of the staff has entirely shattered the environment of the library. Silence is not observed while the library staff discusses their day to day matters in the reading hall, much to the chagrin and inconvenience of the readers sitting there. To cap it all, they do not turn their mobiles silent and their disturbing tones disrupts the peace of a library environment. How can they then ask others to maintain discipline in the library?

There is no check and balance on the staff members. They seem to be running the library according to their own rules. The library opens at 8am but the sweeper daily interrupts by sweeping the floor and dragging the chairs till about 10am. The lavatories are not useable.

There is not any generator or alternative to provide light during load-shedding hours. The heating system is also absent during the winter season. In a nutshell, one can not study in this place, which has been built to benefit the reading public.

Cooling and heating arrangements, appropriate light, air and, the more essentially, observing silence plays an important part in the concentration of the reader on reading.

Unfortunately all these important facilities are missing in this library. The government should encourage the students and facilitate them to develop reading habits. Our society is in a state of flux and the youth is indulged in a number of social evils.

The officials of the Government Model Town Library must focus on preventing such inconvenience and providing a reader-friendly environment in the library.

ABDUR REHMAN FARRUKH Lahore