British Council's refurbished library opens

With e-membership facilities and access to online resources, the British Council opened its newly refurbished library in the capital yesterday.

The library on the Fuller Road has been also expanded with new books and materials on English language, arts, education, and society.

Brendan McSharry, country director of the British Council, told the inaugural ceremony on the library premises, that the refurbishment had transformed the library into a cultural centre.

Reflecting on the council's activities in about 110 countries, its Deputy Chair Baroness Prashar said many libraries had been however closed across the world over the last 10 years. 

"Our British council libraries have been reduced from 225 across the global network to around 20," she said, adding that in South Asia, most libraries survived.

However, memberships have dropped in Bangladesh too, and many books and journals had to be removed between 2007 and 2013, Sarwat Masuda Reza, the council's resource centre manager, told The Daily Star.

British High Commissioner Robert W Gibson hoped that the newly furnished library would be a knowledge hub of the 21st century and would offer more than just books.

Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, the chief guest, reflected on how the council had been a learning centre for generations of Bangladeshis and hoped for its continuation.