Community halls for kids planned

In a bid to encourage the reading habit and creativity among children, the Department of Libraries will construct children's community halls in 27 districts in the state.

Minister for primary and secondary education Basavaraj Horatti, who is also in-charge of libraries department, said the government had released Rs 81 lakh at the rate of Rs 3 lakh per district for the purpose.

Speaking after inaugurating the children's community hall and laying the foundation stone for the first floor of the city central library in Dharwad, Horatti said the government had released Rs 7 crore for the purchase of books for the libraries and the selection committee would directly purchase a minimum of 300 copies each from the writers/publishers.

The government has also decided to start libraries in 2,515 gram panchayats and make available the reading material to those appearing for competitive examinations. The process of recruitment to fill 256 vacant posts in the department has commenced, Horatti stated.

A new library building will come up in Saptapur of Dharwad at a cost of Rs 45 lakh and the government has already released 15 lakh, he informed.

The government has acquired the municipal library building on Lamington Road in Hubli to develop it as a model library at a cost of Rs 4.5 crore.

The library department has also taken up digitisation of one lakh books and it has already digitised 54 lakh pages of 3,600 books.