Media persons, bloggers shown around refurbished British Council library

The library boasts 10,000 books and will be officially inaugurated on Thursday

Karachi

Journalists and bloggers were taken on a round of the refurbished British Council library which has reopened after 15 years.

Housed in the former visa section of the UK Deputy High Commission, the library will be official inaugurated by Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan on Thursday. 

The building has been designed by noted architect Habib Fida Ali.

Alongside being a conventional library with an inventory of 10,000 volumes, it is also a digital library and incorporates many features of information technology and digitalisation.

For instance, there is the latest innovation -- or invention – called the digital table where, by a mere touch of the finger, one gets a wealth of information about the library and related matters.

There are books on a wide range of subjects, from astronomy and cosmology to cookery and household matters, from spirituality and spiritualism to history.

The tour of the library was conducted by Rabeea Arif, joined later by Maarya Rehman and Aziz Sohail.

Books are both fiction and non-fiction. 

Arif said that it was more than a conventional library. She said it was also a space for dialogue with a tiled courtyard seating around 80 people for social functions like seminars or discussion programmes. 

The auditorium has a seating capacity of 100, and by removing the collapsible wall, 150 could be accommodated.

The new library will be a venue for entertainment programmes too.

The library also has a well-equipped café and visitors were treated to some mouth-watering delights.

It will have a self-check-out card with a photo ID mechanism. It has four meeting rooms for discussions and meetings of compact groups, named after Sadequain, Roald Dahl, The Bronte sisters and Shah Lateef Bhittai.

Unlike most libraries -- in fact, it is something revolutionary in the business of libraries -- the library will also have a full-time first aid staff and toilet facilities to cater to the needs of visitors with special needs. There’s also a portion for children.