Where are the Libraries?

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At a couple of recent conferences in the US, I raised the issue of the government’s lack of sensitivity to developing community goods.

My example was the lack of public libraries in Pakistan. I said that there are no public libraries in our cities. In fact provocatively, I often say that “Lahore has 5 polo fields (each 10 acres in size) and 3 Golf courses (an average size of a golf course is about 200 acres), yet there are only 2 public libraries one left by the colonial masters and one in Bagh-I-jinnah resident in a converted colonial building!” With population growing more than tenfold, no libraries or community spaces have been created.

I might also add that the government did provide city center land and a subsidy to develop golf and polo--2 games exceedingly important for community and societal development. More on that some other time!

When I pointed to the lack of public libraries in Pakistan, said this some very well-known Pakistani intellectuals started saying “not true! Not true!” Some even contended there are many libraries. The American audience was perplexed and rightly so.

Well let me give these people a list of libraries in the country of a 180+ million people.

My first source: The National Book Foundation this is what we get.

Libraries

      • National Library of Pakistan
      • Liaquat National Memorial Library
      • Khaliq Deena Hall
      • Iqbal Cyber Library
      • Punjab Public Library Lahore

University Libraries

Similar information can be found on

http://lists.webjunction.org/libweb/Asia_Pakistan.html

http://www.planwel.edu/pln.htm

Some notes on these lists:

1. Most of these are university or official libraries. They are private only available to members, students of officials. They are certainly not "walk-in" public libraries.

2. Public libraries are significantly not available (except for Punjab Public Library and the national library)

3. Most of the public grew up using the British Council and American Libraries.

4. Now that aid bureaucracies have grown to shun such long term and low-margin community commitments in favor of more lucrative long term consulting contracts, these libraries have contracted.

5. We have said nothing about the quality of the libraries on these lists.

Where does a poor kid read? Books are unaffordable. Maybe Madrassahs!

I wonder whether my well-known Pakistani intellectual friends who yelled “not true! not true!” will now learn about Pakistan.

Before they point to the tiny libraries of DHA and Model Town or Sindh Club and Punjab Club, let me remind them that they are libraries meant for the elite associated with these organizations. Moreover book collections and spaces allocated to housing them are more often than not less than adequate!

What is needed are public libraries to introduce youth to global knowledge.

Comments

  1. M Ali Kemal's Blog6 March 2010 at 00:24

    Sir the libraries we have in Pakistan sometimes do not have the latest edition of books.
    I and one of my friend was discussing one day that we have policy makers who does not know what to do. We need a comprehensive plan one by one and let's now seriously think about it.
    Education:
    Health:
    Employment:
    Prioritishe things.
    I believe that we start everything simultaneously and then everything messed up because we do not have funds for everything.
    Moreover, if there is a need to spend 40 Billion on something then do spend 40 Billin do not spend 20 bllion and do haphazardly.
    Last thing, why don't we not buy one mercedeze and spend that Rs. 1 billion on books. International edition of each book costs around $30-$40. considering Rs.85/$ and each book costs $40 we can have 294000 books. and this is not a joke.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous6 March 2010 at 13:32

    It is very good to start a debate on libraries io Pakistan. But I wonder how an economist has not mentioned of a few very good libraries where we can find some useful stuff on Economics like the one in State Bank of Pakistan where SBP has been contnuously adding new books and latest eddtions of some important books. After SBP library one can think of PIDE library. We do have another good libray in World Bank office Islamabad where though access is not easy but staff is helpful in provding reading material if available. Furthermore, Karachi university is I think depository to World Bank publications. So things are not as bad as portrated and at the same time I am not saying as good as should be.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous7 March 2010 at 06:23

    Nadeem
    Saw your blog on national libraries or their absence in pakistan. Those you have listed are very poorly resourced and have remained frozen in time. Hardly any subscribe to leading international publications or journals of repute resulting in an ever increasing knowledge gap. I would actually say this gap may have become unbridgable. There are several very good private libraries in pak (mine being one of them) but they remain enclaves given that there is no culture of donating books to public institutions for the simple reason that these institutions are decrepit and corrupt. All this is a reflection of several things: undervaluation of public goods amidst a sea of illiteracy, feudal culture discouraging debate (see Amartya Sen's argumentative India) and absence of competitive environment.
    It is however easy to point to defects and shortcomings. Challenge is to propose solutions. More on this later but as a start we should make sure that we vote right people into parliament and not hesitate to throw out non performers. Stop focussing on sovereignty of parliament and focus more on quality and content of its members.


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  5. Ali Khan19 December 2020 at 02:06

    Islamabad model town is an impending private endeavor. This lodging venture gives embodiment of extravagance and quietness in obvious degree.

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