Kathmandu, Aug 31: The National Library Day is being observed today by organizing a variety of programmes across the country. The day is celebrated every year on Bhadra 15 in the Lunar calendar to commemorate the day then King Griwanayuddha Bikram Shah put the red seal on the law regarding the establishment of libraries in 1869 BS.
The 17th Library Day is being observed under the slogan 'Library for Continuous Education' under the coordination of the main organising committee led by Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Dr Deepak Kafley.
The committee is hosting an event where the best librarians and readers are scheduled to be honoured.
A survey by the Ministry of Education in 2078/79 showed that there are 928 community and public libraries in the country. Out of them, only 227 libraries are functioning properly.
Rajendra Pandey, the general secretary of the Nepal Community Library Association, emphasizes that all the libraries should be run properly and a policy should be taken to encourage the opening of new ones in other places where there is a need. (RSS)