The library on Alipur Road was built on a piece of eight kanal land in 1980 when Imtiaz Masroor was Muzaffargarh deputy commissioner.
A district official said that there were 400 books at the time of its opening in 1980. With the passage of time, its treasure of books increased as the government enhanced its budget and volume (of books) rose to 25,000.
In its early days the library attracted a good number of students and book lovers since it was the first such facility in the town. However, with the passage of time no money was spent on its upkeep which was the main reason of its present state of neglect.
Ataullah, a library official, said he had written dozens of letters to higher authorities to appoint required staff but his pleas fell on deaf ears. At one occasion, he was served with a show-cause notice for `making frequent demands’. He said at present the building was in dangerous condition.
The library boundary wall has collapsed while its lawns are under illegal occupation. This correspondent found only two readers in the reading room who were going through newspapers.
About the availability of books, they said library officials never issued them books. An official said the library did not have required staff to meet the needs of its visitors.
Nasreen, a college student, said that she visited the library along with her class fellows but could not sit there because of excessive smoking by staff and male visitors.
At present the library has the services of two-man staff who have to clean it also whenever the district government tells them that higher authorities are visiting the town.
DCO Tariq Javed Malik said he would fill the library vacancies. He regretted that he had visited the library in the recent past but no official had brought the issue to his knowledge.