The same cannot be said about Pakistan, and especially Balochistan. Book reading culture isn’t as widespread as it should be. I live in Turbat, which is the second largest city in Balochistan after Quetta. In my city, there are only two libraries at present, but their condition is miserable.
Recently, I visited the University Public Library, the biggest library in Turbat, where I was told that the library was closed. It came as a shock to me because the place is made for students to go and read. The place is being misused by the management. The library is used for meetings and events that should be held there in the first place.
There’s also a dire lack of books. Though the situation of other facilities is not ideal either. I was not allowed to take any kind of book. What’s the point of it all if a student cannot go and get some books?
Another library in Turbat, the Turbat Digital Library, just has a single room. This is not surprising, to say the least. The library is facing a dire lack of rooms, shortage of books, lack of boundary walls and lack of chairs. It is shocking to mention that only 15 to 20 chairs are available in the library.
Once I visited the library, I saw that it was full of students, who had no chairs to sit on, and given the small space in the room, most of them were sitting outside the library. This only shows that students in Turbat are keen on seeking knowledge, but are lacking opportunities.
Apart from this, places in Turbat including Absor, Singanisar, Chasar, and other places are lacking libraries. Like Turbat, other areas of Balochistan are lagging behind too. They don’t even have any libraries whatsoever. The only books they have are their course ones, and that, in my humble opinion, is not sufficient enough to cater to the needs of students.
This is the main reason that Balochistan is lagging behind in the education sector. It is the responsibility of the education department of Balochistan to provide more libraries in Turbat and other areas. First, I request the government to provide basic facilities to the libraries of Turbat.
Considering only two libraries are present, so it should not be difficult for the government to provide basic facilities.