Facilitating students: With digital libraries, Punjab aims to promote reading

Govt gives go-ahead for establishing 151 smart libraries at a cost of Rs940m

LAHORE: To promote reading and learning among masses, the Punjab government has decided to establish 151 digital, smart libraries across the province at an estimated cost of Rs940 million.

The project was included in the Annual Development Programme (ADP) 2016-17 and is likely to be approved in the next meeting of the Provincial Development Working Party (PDWP) scheduled for today (Tuesday).

Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) Chairman Dr Nizamuddin, Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) Chairman Umar Saif and officials of the Higher Education Department (HED) will attend the meeting.

The PC-1 of the project has been completed and work on the project would be started after the approval of the PDWP, PHEC Director-General Dr Shahid Soroya told The Express Tribune.

The project comprises three important targets. The first is to give access to information to academic institutions, including colleges and universities. The second is to provide reading material to people through public libraries, at parks and through the programme’s mobile vehicle libraries. The third target is to preserve and give access to indigenous knowledge, which includes books, MPhil and PhD theses of Pakistani scholars through a database.

Dr Shahid said the project would not replace the existing infrastructure at public libraries, colleges and universities but was designed to supplement it through additional resources.

Documents available with The Express Tribune show the project would be completed by the PHEC in three years and would be funded through the Annual Development Programme (2016-17).

The e-resources available at the digital and smart libraries would give open access – anyone can access the material from anywhere through internet – to some of the material available at the libraries.

A subsidised, paid subscription model will be adopted for some material available at the library while full access will be given to public academic institutions free of charge.

The project includes a centralised digital library of e-books, e-journals, databases, documentaries, digital press clippings, online Pakistan Periodical Index, video-lectures relevant to text, reference and general subjects in the form of PDF documents, interactive e-resources and DVDs. Initially 150,000 e-books and other digital content would be available in the digital library.

Initially, the libraries will be established at 27 public-sector universities, 95 postgraduate colleges, 20 public parks while nine mobile libraries will be setup on vehicles.

The libraries will be established at two public parks under the PHA administration in each division of the province.

Lahore will get two additional libraries. Around one million students and teachers of over 500 colleges in Punjab will benefit from the initiative, the documents estimate.

The estimated cost of the project stands at Rs940.186 million. The documents state that if not implemented on time, the project cost would increase about 15-20% per year.

The three-year project would cost Rs331.661 million in the first year, Rs324.235 million in the second and Rs284.289 million in the third year. While the operation and maintenance cost of the project is estimated at Rs245.271 million annually.

The documents reveal the project’s implementation and execution would be managed by two committees, namely the Content Management Committee and the Implementation Committee. Executive decisions would be taken by the steering committee, which includes the PHEC chairperson, PITB chairman, HED secretary, Government College University (GCU) vice-chancellor, Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) additional DG and the PHEC director-general.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17^th, 2017.