Getting Into The Reality: The Experience of Physical Facilities Provided by The Public Libraries

Library Herald Year : 2015, Volume : 53, Issue : 4 First page : ( 453) Last page : ( 461) Print ISSN : 0024-2292. Online ISSN : 0976-2469. Article DOI : 10.5958/0976-2469.2015.00041.X

Getting Into The Reality: The Experience of Physical Facilities Provided by The Public Libraries in Darjeeling Hill

Karkee Prabin1, Majumder Krishnapada2 1Librarian, Siliguri College, PO-Siliguri, District Darjeeling, Email: prawin_lis@rediffmail.com 2Department of Library & Information Science, Jadavpur University, Kolkata-700032, Email: krishnapada_majumder@yahoo.com

Abstract Among the three important components of any public library viz. collection, user and library building, the building has an important role to play. This article highlights the present status of library buildings, space allocation, and other physical facilities provided by the government and government sponsored public libraries in the hilly areas of Darjeeling district of West Bengal. Taking into account the geographical factor, the study stressed to cover various aspects of library physical facilities which are vital for providing effective library services in the region. A structured questionnaire was circulated to all the 101 government and government sponsored Public Libraries serving the hilly areas, out of which 94 questionnaires were duly obtained with a response rate of 93%. Effort was also made to physically visit the libraries to collect data. Based on the findings, the study presents some recommendations for the development of effective public library services in the hilly region.

Keywords Public Library Services, Library Physical Facilities, Library Building, Library Space, Darjeeling Hill,Karkee Prabin, Majumder Krishnapada.