Librarians approach Ashok Chavan for better salaries

Most people imagine them as bespectacled, serious-looking people who know exactly where that out-of-publication book is stashed away in rows upon rows of moth-eaten wooden shelves. While the stereotype may be true only to a degree, it is a certain fact that librarians of government-aided libraries in the state are increasingly feeling like the worn-out leaves of a book no one wants to read.

To make their presence felt, this disgruntled workforce will take out a protest march to chief minister Ashok Chavan’s bungalow, Varsha, on July 19. They are demanding better pay, and want the state frame a library movement policy which clearly defines the methods and ways to reach and educate villagers through the medium of books.

“We want our remuneration to be revised. We do not get salaries. There are insufficient funds to buy new books. Ours is a thankless job, in spite of us giving readers a perspective,” said Dr Ramesh Janmabandhu, Maharashtra Rajya Granthalaya Sangha.

“Under the current circumstances, our work can be equated with social work. We want to be on the government’s pay roll. We also want to highlight various lacunae in the libraries. There are not enough reading rooms, books or furniture to attract readers,” said Ashok Khandle, a librarian.

Sunil Kubal, a librarian from Dadar Marathi Granthalaya, said, “Books in all languages are now-a-days priced at Rs300, and grants are not sufficient to buy them. We need double the grants. Our remuneration has not been revised since five years. Our job involves not just classification and cataloguing, but we personally deliver books at senior citizen’s homes. We guide the jobless to read employment newspapers,” he said.