The English proverb, “Where there is a will, there is a way” has been translated into action by a security guard, who has set up a library at a park in north Kolkata.
Satya Ranjan Dolui, security guard of Jagat Mukherjee situated at the intersection of Jatindra Mohan Avenue and Bhupen Bose Avenue in north Kolkata has set up a library inside the park and this has become quite popular with more and more people coming to the library to pick up books and read them.
At a time when visiting the library to read books has sharply gone down, the effort to attract people to read books deserves admiration, said Debashis Kumar, member, mayor in-council, in charge of park and square said.
The number of readers visiting the important libraries in the city like the Bagbazar Reading library, Sahitya Partishad library, Jaykrishna Library in Uttarpara has dropped sharply.
Siddiqullah Chowdhury, state library minister said, “it is a fact that the number of readers in the libraries has fallen sharply. The department is trying to bring back the readers to the libraries by conducting a campaign requesting people to visit the libraries.”
Satya Ranjan Dolui, is a security guard of Jagat Mukherjee Park who has set up the library. “I could not continue my studies after the Madhyamik examination because of poverty. When I joined as a security guard, I found that people came here to chat and thought about how they would react if a library was set up at the park. Many young boys and girls come to pass time, so if a library could be set up they might show interest in reading books.”
Mr Dolui looks after the trees and maintains them. He cleared a space and started buying books by spending money from his own pocket.
The library is surrounded by trees. Everyday, people come here to read books. Most of the books are in Bengali and cover various topics like novels, fiction, travelogue among others.
Mr Dolui comes in the morning and sweeps the park. He maintains the library, cleans the chairs and tables. “Not all are serious readers. There are some who come here to take a rest and while spending time go through books,” he said.
Mr Dolui urged people to donate books. “I want books in different languages and topics and request people to donate books so that the library can run in a better way.”