Buldhana has 337 libraries but 31 exist only on paper as readers shift to mobile phones

Libraries in Buldhana district are waiting for readers. The district has 337 libraries in all, but 31 of them are running only in name. According to information from the district library officer's office, the remaining 306 libraries are functioning properly, which is why they receive government grants.

In the digital age, the use of social media, smartphones and the internet has grown so much that people's way of life has changed. Readers are turning away from libraries, once the main source of entertainment, information and knowledge. These places, which kept the reading culture alive, are increasingly deserted. From elderly people who read newspapers to students preparing for competitive examinations, many have chosen private libraries for convenience. The internet has reached everywhere, so the information people want is available at home in little time. As a result, almost all libraries in the district either have no readers or run with very few, and look deserted.

The government started libraries in many places for students, farmers and those fond of reading. The aim was that students in the district, tehsils and villages would get a variety of books to prepare for competitive examinations and expand their knowledge. Farmers were to get information on technology developing along modern lines. Those fond of reading were to find story collections, novels, autobiographies, children's literature and books on hill forts in one place. The government grant is distributed to the 306 libraries in which readers are being given all facilities.

Today, with the reach of the internet, every hand holds a mobile phone. Whether it is the latest news, sport, politics, culture, the economy and international developments, or stories, novels and biographies, readers no longer come to the library to read them. Services such as Kuku FM and Pocket FM have also made all this convenient. Students preparing for competitive examinations have taken to private libraries. Books enrich the mind, mature one's thinking and teach the difference between right and wrong. But social media has pulled the reading public away, and the reading movement faces a major crisis. To come out of it, modernising libraries to make them more attractive and sustaining the reading culture through regular government grants has become the need of the hour.

The government distributes regular grants to libraries of classes A, B, C and D. A class A library is given Rs 11.52 lakh, class B Rs 3.90 lakh, class C Rs 1.53 lakh and class D Rs 48,000.

Owing to a lack of internet and digital facilities, students preparing for competitive examinations had at one point stayed away from libraries. The district library office said that 15 to 20 libraries in the district have now gone digital.