The government would soon table a bill in the National Assembly with a proposal seeking amendment to the Copyright Act to ensure that every publisher provides a copy of all published material to the National Library.
National Library Director-General Chaudhry Mohammad Nazir on Thursday said under the law the publishers are bound to provide a copy to the National Library, but it is rarely implemented, adding the violators face a fine of Rs 500, but it is proposed to raise the fine up to Rs 15,000.
He said of the 10,000 published books annually in the country, the National Library received only around 400 books.
He said the government should encourage book publishing culture in the country by announcing more incentives to book publishers, adding the reduction in import and export license, taxes and duties on publishing.
Chaudhry Nazir called for raising funds for libraries to buy books and encourage book-reading culture in the country.
He said that Pakistan needs to focus on resource sharing and co-ordination among the global literary centres, including libraries and research centres.
Chaudhry Nazir said a proposal of online library, estimated to cost Rs 30 million is also under consideration for which the PC-1 would be submitted next month.
He said the objective of National library is to preserve literature published in the country about Pakistan or its people.
"To achieve the objective, it is imperative not to lend books, but to preserve these and allow people to use these as reference", he added.
Nazir said the library houses more than 180,000 and internet facility has also been provided in the four reading halls for the public.
He said the Islamabad Public Library was also established at F-6 Markaz by the Department of Libraries, and contains over 100,000 books. These could also be lent.
He said evening shift of the Islamabad Public Library will start this month from 3:00 pm to 8:30 pm, while the National Library will soon start its evening shift.
To attract children towards reading a Modern Children Library was established in G-6 near Lal mosque and a proposal has been submitted to shift both the Islamabad Public Library and the Modern Children library at one place.
Chaudhry Nazir said book exhibitions play a vital role in attracting public towards literature, but regretted that trend was not common in Pakistan, and suggested setting up of some places throughout the country with permanent stalls of books.
He said a project of establishing national libraries at provincial metropolis is also under consideration.
Comments
Comments are closed.