Street Library: A novel idea?

It seemed a novel idea that a street library is established at a footpath along the eastern wall of Hotel Metropol (outer wall of the parking area) facing the main artery of the city Sharae Faisal, but without any vision or intention to facilitate the general public. People wonder why it was there?

Marked as Commissioner’s Corner the “STREET LIBRARY” houses two sets of wall-mounted three-door wooden bookshelves (double door almaries)and sitting benches at the other side of the footpath, which is fenced with a beautiful railing. The wall is also beautifully decorated with inscribed pictures made with yellow-stone plaster of the leaders of the independence movement and some famous buildings of the city.

The Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Ali Shallwani has taken the credit for establishing the street library from the platform of the Council of Karachi Libraries. He inaugurated this library on 25^th December the birthday of the Father of the Nation Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. A number of new and old booksellers were also invited to set up their bookstalls alongside the road, which is a portion for the traffic turning alongside the Metropol. That lane was closed to traffic.

The street library is reported to offer the exchange of books, but on the first day, there were no arrangements for availing that facility as there was no attendant from the office of the Commissioner to guide visitors. After the formal inauguration in the morning, I visited the place in the afternoon and found the doors of the library were open. All were filled with books. I peeped into the shelves and founds books in English, Urdu and Sindhi languages. English books were mostly on the course subjects but Urdu and Sindhi books were on literature and novels.

A person, who said he was a representative of a private company, which had arranged the inaugural function, told me that no staff from the Commissioner or any other government office was available to reply to my questions. He himself was not aware much.

A middle-aged Sindhi-speaking couple was also desperately looking for a concerned staff. They want to take a couple of books from the shelves. The male fellow told me that he was there at the time of the inauguration and the Commissioner had said that books can be exchanged (which means you bring your books and take books from the shelves as replacements). But the guard and the private guy did not allow them to take the books even in exchange. The guard, which belongs to a private security company, later locked all the books almaries with keys in fear of stealing.

Some other people were also looking for any concerned people but they were disappointed like me. The Sindhi couple, with whom I spoke later said they were happy to learn about this library but it seems it was similar to other government projects just to spend the budget. Maybe Commissioner Sahib had visited some European countries and the idea inspired him so he brought this street idea from there and implemented it here. According to him, this may be part of the World Bank Project, which is being implemented in the Saddar town area. But how the Commissioner's office will manage and maintain it, he was also blank.