934 books vanish from Chandigarh's sector 34 library in 5 years

CHANDIGARH: Bookworms appeared to be so immersed in literature that they have lost sense of time as about 934 books have disappeared from the shelves of Divisional Library (South), Sector 34, in last five years.

The revelation came to light after TOI filed a query under the Right To Information (RTI) Act with the UT education department. The response showed that 800 members borrowed the books for 14 or 28 days on their cards but never bothered to return them. The books belonged to different genres like fiction, non-fiction and biographies. Many were even guides for cracking entrance examinations.

About 461 such books were issued in last five months. Though library authorities were hopeful of members landing up with the prized possessions in tow after some time, all efforts to bring the rest of the 473 books issued between 2010 and 2014 have failed.

The total cost of all the books was about 100 times higher than the surety money of the 800 library members, some of whom were still turning the pages while sitting in a corner of their houses.

The RTI reply suggested the trend of overdue library books was increasing with each passing year. The number was 60 in 2010, 75 in 2011, 62 in 2012, 68 in 2013 and 208 books in 2014.

The query also revealed that library authorities had collected about Rs 2.36 lakh fine from library members for not returning books on time or in poor conditions. But these 800 members were not fined. The action against offenders was divided into three parts, issuing of reminders telephonically, sending written reminders and finally, forfeiting the security of library members. The divisional library housed about 1,17,623 books with 26, 433 books being purchased between 2010 and 2015.

OFF THE SHELVES

Prominent writers and their missing works

William Shakespeare | Complete works, including Hamlet, Julius Caesar, As You Like It

Leo Tolstoy | War and Peace, Kingdom of God and peace essays, Anna Karenina, Collected Long and Short Stories.

Agatha Christie | Partners in Crime, Endless Night, Ordeal By Innocence, They Do It With Mirrors

JK Rowling | Harry Potter And The Half-blood Prince

Kalidas | Abhijyan Shakuntala

Balwant Gargi | Kakka Reta, Loha Kutt

Shiv Kumar Batalvi | Kavita Sangrhya (Poems in Hindi)

Graphic form:

Year | Disappeared books

2010 | 60

2011 | 75

2012 | 62

2013 | 68

2014 | 208

2015 | 461

Fine collected in last 5 years | Rs 2,36, 705