From now on a visitor to the British Council Library on Kasturba Gandhi Marg will no longer be able to see young students poring over a college book or doing the last minute reading for exams. This change has been visible for the past two weeks, as the British Council Library has been enforcing a new policy that restricts visitors from bringing outside books and personal study materials into the library.
The British Council, established in India in 1948, is an international organisation of the United Kingdom that fosters education opportunities and cultural relations, with nine locations in India and a presence in over 110 countries worldwide, said Director of Operations Gill Caldicott.
The library has a seating capacity of about 70 and, as senior operations manager R. Vijay Shankar explained, visitors often abuse common spaces by leaving personal belongings for reserving seats, even when they were gone for long periods of time for lunch or break.
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“People complained that they weren’t reading the books [in the library] as well,” said Mr. Shankar, who stressed that these new policies have been made for the larger good and had been advertised for the last two months. An ongoing refurbishing process for Delhi’s British Council began in 2013. This has also meant a good time for transition policies, a shift that has found mixed reviews amid members.
“The seating arrangement and computers are good and there is now plenty of space,” said young professional Swati Poplio, who has been a member of the library for the past three years. However, Diksha, a recent member to the library, explained that for journalism and mass communications, the quality and quantity of books in the library is insufficient and lack of access to WiFi and personal materials have limited her use of the space further.
The British Council is mindful of these critiques. Ms. Caldicott explained that she wants the British Council to serve as an open convening space as well, a goal that will be more possible after the refurbishment is completed by the end of 2014.
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Visitors unsatisfied with the recent changes at the British Council can now be found just across the street at the American Center. Some members admitted to never once browsing the collection at the American Library, but largely using the space as a good environment for personal study. Nevertheless, representative of the American Center, Emily White, explained that borrowing statistics show that every six months 70 per cent of American Center materials are being used by patrons and despite the issue of space restraints, the Center is pleased to see it has become such a popular venue.
“I am currently preparing for entrance exams,” explained Sumit, who said he visits the American Center everyday of the week for about eight hours because of the great environment.
Though Ms. White notes that the goal of the American Center is also to promote exchange of ideas between the two countries, they have no plans to limit the usage of the library for their patrons.
(Maggie Krueger was an intern with The Hindu)