A newly formed development committee has urged the State government to temporarily take over the Kozhikode Public Library and Research Centre at Mananchira in the city.
Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, committee president P.V. Mohanlal and secretary M.K. Beeran demanded that the government take steps to conduct elections to the governing body of the library within six months. Only the members of the library should be on the governing body. Such a step would help in depoliticising and retaining the functional autonomy of the institution, they said.
They alleged that the State Library Council and the District Library Council were trying to destroy the public library in a bid to implement their political agenda.
Mr. Mohanlal said that the government should take steps to purchase more books and journals. Likewise the library should be modernised by establishing a digital library and a children’s library. More facilities should be provided to members through automation.
Wage revision
He also demanded that the government revise the wages of the employees of the library and distribute their salary arrears. The building tax of Rs.8,000 imposed on the library should be reduced. Legal steps should be initiated against the shops that had not paid rent for years. Similarly, those shop owners refusing to pay for the rented rooms should be thrown out and the rooms should be re-auctioned, he said.
Court case
The State government in 1994 had decided to revamp the Kozhikode Central Library due to its crumbling state. The library was shifted to Chevayur and later to the defunct Kiliyanad U.P. School building. A five-storey library was constructed in 30 cents of land after forming a society. As per a government order, this became a new library.
A few years later all libraries under the earlier Madras Library Act got affiliated to the State Library Council. It resulted in a litigation over claim to the library at Mananchira. On one side was the State Library Council and on the other those involved in the Mananchira Public Library.
Four years ago, the High Court of Kerala gave a verdict that the government could take a decision.
The decision was to hand over the library to the State Library Council. However, the governing body went ahead with a case and got the government’s decision stayed.
