No cut yet on acquisition of printed copies, but digital wave clearly gathering momentum.
Libraries across the country are actively responding to the changing ways of reading and the latest tech gadgets like iPhones, iPads, tablets and Kindle.
Globally, many libraries are cutting on acquisition of printed books and turning focus to e-books. In India, it’s not quite like that, yet. However, all big libraries are spending anything from 10 to 20 per cent of their annual budget on e-books and digital content.
| DIGITAL CREEP |
| * British Council Library (BCL) is stepping up its online offerings for corporate members across India; |
| * BCL has a bank of 50,000 online books already and plans to add e-music and e-movies; |
| * American Center Library members can now access its e-library with around 55,000 books from anywhere in the world |
| * Osmania University Library in Hyderabad has just begun to add e-books to its collection |
| * Chennai-based Anna Centenary Library is in the process of providing access to 200,000 e-books and 20,000 e-journals |
| * In Bangalore, libraries are talking of changing their book procurement policy to cater to the e-book demand |
A spokesperson at the American Center in New Delhi told Business Standard that if there’s any cut in the level of book acquisition, it’s due to the global economic downturn and not so much for the digital wave catching up in India. “Any budget cut will have a direct or indirect impact on the level of acquisition,” the official said, without elaborating on the cut.
The Center subscribes to e-book collections and a vast online databank provided by Amazon and OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) globally, by paying licence fees. As against 55,000 e-books, it has around 30,000 physical books in the Delhi library. The rate of annual acquisition is around 5,000 books at ACL, Delhi. The library refused to talk about the acquisition cost.
A representative of the British Library in Delhi said the acquisition of books, currently 7,000 to 10,000 a year, had not been reduced. But, he said, the demand for e-books is on the rise and the library had planned various innovations around online offerings.
SOUTH
Major libraries in Hyderabad may not be too focused on electronic books so far, but they have been building collections of 'digital documents', which are scanned and pdf versions of printed books. The Osmania University Library, for instance, is firming plans to add e-books to its collection. According to A S Chakravarty, in charge of the digital wing, the library had decided to spend Rs 1 lakh on e-books this year. This would be in addition to its annual acquisition budget of Rs 10 lakh, the same as last year.
He said initially the library would purchase only reference books such as the Encyclopaedia Britannica, dictionaries and yearbooks. It also offers a 45,000-strong collection of digital documents on its website for free.
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Another big library in Hyderabad, the government-run State Central Library, has digitised some 50,000-60,000 books from its 500,000-odd collection. According to assistant librarian Y Kesari Hanuman, its digital resources section, under construction now, would only have a collection of CDs and DVDs, and not e-books to be offered on the internet or intranet.
Although public libraries in Tamil Nadu have not experienced any reduction in demand for printed books from their members due to the advent of e-books, there are many researchers, lawyers, doctors and business people seeking online facilities to update developments in their respective fields, says an official from the Directorate of Public Libraries (DPL).
The DPL, under the school education department of the state government, has 4,042 libraries under its aegis across the state and purchases books worth Rs 10-15 crore every year for these shelves. “We have not seen any shift in the book lending pattern because of the presence of e-books,” said G Arivoli, director of public libraries. DPL heads major libraries in Tamil Nadu, including the Connemara Library (state central library) and the Anna Centenary Library.
While Connemara Library continues to purchase 20,000 to 60,000 books a year, the Anna Centenary Library has a capacity to stock around 12,00,000 books in all major languages of the world, and currently has 500,000 books. It proposes to offer 200,000 e-books and 20,000 e-journals soon.
In addition, the directorate of public libraries is planning to provide e-books and online journals through its website, to provide rare books and updated journals not available in print, to its members, according to officials.
DIGITISING
Digitising the old books has also emerged as a need for the century-old Adayar Library and Research Centre, part of the international headquarters of the Theosophical Society, in Chennai. “The book purchase expenditure in libraries is coming down gradually, with more and more books and journals available online. Being a research library, ours has around 22,000 palm leaves and a large number of paper manuals. It needs to be digitised for better preservation and ease of usage,” said C A Shinde, librarian.
Libraries in Bangalore have had to change their book procurement policies. With e-books and online magazines gaining prominence, and more and more people opting for e-books and books online, there is a switch away from academic books that used to be a major part of the books being procured.
Charu Sapra, manager of the British Library in Bangalore, said, “There has been a shift in the kind of books we are acquiring. There are fewer academic books now. Many of them are available online.”
The Max Mueller Bhavan in Bangalore is constrained for space in expanding its library since shifting from the earlier premises. The library was downsized in 2004. In March 2009, it was reopened as a lending library, with 4,000 books, CDs and DVDs. According to a Max Mueller official, "It is the academic libraries that have been impacted by the technological developments." .