Guwahati, July 30 (ANI): Students and those fond of reading books as a past-time have appealed to the Government of Assam to initiate steps to arrest the decline in library culture.

Expressing concern over libraries now being branded as old fashioned and out of sync with the present times, book lovers have said that there is a need for the state government to re-promote the high level of intellectualism that existed in the past.

They have also called on the state administration to stop employees of the Directorate of Library Services from indulging in acts of corruption in the name of purchasing books and journals from publishing houses.

Recalling the Rs.2 crore book purchase scam of 2007-08, they said that the state government must ensure against a repeat of the same.

The purchase of books and their allotment to various libraries in the state is the responsibility of the State Cultural Affairs Department. 

At present, there are 23 district libraries, 14 sub-divisional libraries and 204 rural libraries in Assam.

Students and book lover claimed that the library authorities are out of sync with times, and demanded that they want to read real books and not e-books. (ANI)