Abir Rayhan :
Thousands of rare books and manuscripts of Dhaka University’s Central Library are on the verge of ruin due to poor management.
The library has books and documents chronicling the division of Bengal in 1905, division of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, language movement in 1952, mass upsurge in 1969 and independence of Bangladesh in 1971.
But most of these books are victims of utter negligence, decaying in the dusty, damp atmosphere. The pages of these books have become extremely brittle while many of them have become prey to bookworms.
Walking around the library, one will catch glimpses of the rare books. Some of these books are of the original first editions. These include historian L De Blois and R.J Van Der Spek’s An Introduction to the Ancient World, Sir Lepel Griffin’s Rulers of India and many books of the nineteenth century remarkable writers, researchers, and novelists.
‘The books lying in the reading rooms on the 1st and 2nd floors of the library have become foods for white ants,’ said Sabidin Ibrahim, a former student of English Department, who regularly come to the library for more than 10 years.
He said most of the books have become damp owing to rain-splash and over-moisture during monsoon as they have been kept on shelves of worn-out bookracks.
He blamed the authorities for failing to make proper use of its existing resources and manpower and maintain the library while they put more emphasis only on purchase of books and other materials for the library.
DU Islamic Studies Department professor Dr. Shamsul Alam alleged that there are enormous problems in the management.
‘It is high time to take initiative to protect these rare collections, otherwise we will lose precious and rare documents of our history,’ he observed.
Beside these valuable books, centuries-old ‘puthis’ and manuscripts, newspapers and periodicals printed in Bangladesh during the last century have been wearing out for lack of proper preservation and proper utilisation of the existing resources.
Officials serving at the country’s largest library, in term of its collections, said, about 800 rare manuscripts and at least 600 microfilmed newspapers have already been damaged, although there was a supervisory committee to look into this and another thousand rare manuscripts and newspapers are going to meet the same fate if preventive steps are not taken in time.
About 20,000 among the manuscripts have been identified and 6,500 almost-decayed manuscripts have been microfilmed and laminated, the officials said.
Work on identifying other manuscripts is on, but they are in such a decrepit condition that it will be difficult to work on them, the officials said.
The university library has a collection of more than 30,000 such books and manuscripts, dating back to the medieval period, written on palm and banana leaves, barks, stone slabs and handmade papers in Sanskrit, Bangla, Arabic, Pali, Urdu, Persian, Maithili, Uriya, Hindi and a few other dialects.
‘Sharada Tilak’, a Sanskrit ‘puthi’, more than 550-year-old, and rare Bangla works from the middle ages like ‘Padma Puran’, ‘Yusuf Zulekha’ by Shah Muhammad Sagir, ‘Padmabati’ by Alaol, ‘Annadamangal’ by Bharat Chandra Ray Gunakar, ‘Manosamangal’ by Narayan Deb, ‘Ofate Rasul’ by Sayed Sultan, ‘Meghdut’ by Kalidash, ‘Baishnab Padabali’, some precious books on astrology and Bengali grammar are some of the notable rare collections of the library.
The library has also a great collection of rare documents, which chronicle the history of medieval period Bengali culture including a rare document on slave trade which was written on a bark, around 500 years old.
Shaheen Sultana, Deputy Librarian (research), said some microfilmed manuscripts have been damaged and a process to reprint them is underway.
She lamented that there are many rare manuscripts in the library but in last 25 years only 10 Bangladeshi teachers and researchers and 12 foreigners did research on these valuable documents, as a result most of these precious manuscripts have remained untouched.
Terming the manuscripts as the foundation of knowledge for Bengali nation as they carry the national history, culture and tradition, Professor emeritus Serajul Islam Choudhury said, this precious collection served teachers, students and researchers from home and abroad for decades but such a poor condition of the library makes one unwilling to go there.
‘The state and the university authorities should promote research on these rare books and documents, many of which still remain to be deciphered,’ he said. Pushing aside the allegation of poor management, librarian Prof Dr SM Javed said, ‘We have adequate resources but there is a lack of necessary funds required to properly preserve the rare books and documents.’
Thousands of rare books and manuscripts of Dhaka University’s Central Library are on the verge of ruin due to poor management.
The library has books and documents chronicling the division of Bengal in 1905, division of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, language movement in 1952, mass upsurge in 1969 and independence of Bangladesh in 1971.
But most of these books are victims of utter negligence, decaying in the dusty, damp atmosphere. The pages of these books have become extremely brittle while many of them have become prey to bookworms.
Walking around the library, one will catch glimpses of the rare books. Some of these books are of the original first editions. These include historian L De Blois and R.J Van Der Spek’s An Introduction to the Ancient World, Sir Lepel Griffin’s Rulers of India and many books of the nineteenth century remarkable writers, researchers, and novelists.
‘The books lying in the reading rooms on the 1st and 2nd floors of the library have become foods for white ants,’ said Sabidin Ibrahim, a former student of English Department, who regularly come to the library for more than 10 years.
He said most of the books have become damp owing to rain-splash and over-moisture during monsoon as they have been kept on shelves of worn-out bookracks.
He blamed the authorities for failing to make proper use of its existing resources and manpower and maintain the library while they put more emphasis only on purchase of books and other materials for the library.
DU Islamic Studies Department professor Dr. Shamsul Alam alleged that there are enormous problems in the management.
‘It is high time to take initiative to protect these rare collections, otherwise we will lose precious and rare documents of our history,’ he observed.
Beside these valuable books, centuries-old ‘puthis’ and manuscripts, newspapers and periodicals printed in Bangladesh during the last century have been wearing out for lack of proper preservation and proper utilisation of the existing resources.
Officials serving at the country’s largest library, in term of its collections, said, about 800 rare manuscripts and at least 600 microfilmed newspapers have already been damaged, although there was a supervisory committee to look into this and another thousand rare manuscripts and newspapers are going to meet the same fate if preventive steps are not taken in time.
About 20,000 among the manuscripts have been identified and 6,500 almost-decayed manuscripts have been microfilmed and laminated, the officials said.
Work on identifying other manuscripts is on, but they are in such a decrepit condition that it will be difficult to work on them, the officials said.
The university library has a collection of more than 30,000 such books and manuscripts, dating back to the medieval period, written on palm and banana leaves, barks, stone slabs and handmade papers in Sanskrit, Bangla, Arabic, Pali, Urdu, Persian, Maithili, Uriya, Hindi and a few other dialects.
‘Sharada Tilak’, a Sanskrit ‘puthi’, more than 550-year-old, and rare Bangla works from the middle ages like ‘Padma Puran’, ‘Yusuf Zulekha’ by Shah Muhammad Sagir, ‘Padmabati’ by Alaol, ‘Annadamangal’ by Bharat Chandra Ray Gunakar, ‘Manosamangal’ by Narayan Deb, ‘Ofate Rasul’ by Sayed Sultan, ‘Meghdut’ by Kalidash, ‘Baishnab Padabali’, some precious books on astrology and Bengali grammar are some of the notable rare collections of the library.
The library has also a great collection of rare documents, which chronicle the history of medieval period Bengali culture including a rare document on slave trade which was written on a bark, around 500 years old.
Shaheen Sultana, Deputy Librarian (research), said some microfilmed manuscripts have been damaged and a process to reprint them is underway.
She lamented that there are many rare manuscripts in the library but in last 25 years only 10 Bangladeshi teachers and researchers and 12 foreigners did research on these valuable documents, as a result most of these precious manuscripts have remained untouched.
Terming the manuscripts as the foundation of knowledge for Bengali nation as they carry the national history, culture and tradition, Professor emeritus Serajul Islam Choudhury said, this precious collection served teachers, students and researchers from home and abroad for decades but such a poor condition of the library makes one unwilling to go there.
‘The state and the university authorities should promote research on these rare books and documents, many of which still remain to be deciphered,’ he said. Pushing aside the allegation of poor management, librarian Prof Dr SM Javed said, ‘We have adequate resources but there is a lack of necessary funds required to properly preserve the rare books and documents.’
