MARGAO: Call it lethargy or utter neglect, the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) has failed to give due importance to preserve and maintain the treasure trove of more than 1,500 rare books in its library.
Even after a year has passed since a team of experts from Goa University had made13 suggestions to preserve and maintain the treasure trove, the MMC has not found the time to even discuss the matter at its council meeting and take necessary action on the suggestions.
A visit to the library revealed the pathetic state of affairs with tubelight fixtures, plastic buckets, boxes and even uniforms of the civic staff hanging on the racks of the rare-books section.
It may be recalled that on August 28, 2021, Herald had highlighted the issue wherein it was noticed that for years, a treasure trove of more than 1,500 Old Portuguese books in the MMC library have been craving attention due to excess moisture, dust and infestation by insects.
Thereafter, a team of experts led by Goa University’s professor in-charge of the Department of Library Carlos Fernandes had visited the library and had made 13 suggestions, of which a few were to be implemented on an
urgent basis.
Suggestions on priority include dusting the rare and valuable Portuguese-era books of the Municipal Library, preferably dry cleaning them at the earliest and to install a portable de-humidifier immediately, besides installing glass cupboards, and recruiting a professional to assist the assistant librarian. Sources said nearly 50-odd Portuguese books including those on law and literary values had been disposed off in the past.
At present, except for some dusting of the books, none of the other suggestions have been taken seriously. According to sources, of the 13 suggestions, the Library Committee had stressed on the first four, however, a year has passed and no one has bothered to include these points in the agenda of the council meeting.
At present, the staff has managed to clean the section of rare Portuguese books, but all these books need to be dry-cleaned again before placing them in the glass cupboards.
The team of experts, during its visit to the library,went on record stating that all the rare Portuguese books should be scanned as soon as possible, and the prints of the same should be made available for the public to peruse. Further, all the scanned books should be used to create a digital library using the freely available digital library software.
One of the important suggestions was to maintain the humidity level of the room by installing a portable dehumidifier immediately, but shockingly, the MMC failed to take this seriously.
Assistant Librarian Roshni Dessai said she was following up the matter with the higher-ups on a regular basis and hoped that the suggestions would be implemented soon.
“The library committee has discussed the issue twice and even the standing committee has given its approval for the suggestions to be implemented. It has been decided to take up the work step-by-step,” she added.
MMC chairperson Lyndon Pereira said, “It is not that the civic body is not serious in preserving and maintaining the rare books in the MMC library. We will take up the issue in the next council meeting and accord approval so that suggestions from the experts can be implemented.”
He said a follow-up in this regard will be done with the assistant librarian and the Library Committee.
The section at the corner of the library has a treasure of various Portuguese books such as law, philosophy, history and psychology, besides those on medicines and literary values.
Besides several others, a book by Joao F Da T Menezes titled ‘Aggravo Crime’ published in 1897, ‘A Nacao Christa da Damocracia’, a book on politics by Prof Jose Toniolo (published in Porto, 1904), ‘A Capoeira de Joaninha’ by Dulilio Joao Coelho Marques, published in Lisboa, and a book written by Estado do India on law need urgent attention.
