A library that welcomes no reader

A modern building, covered in panes of black glass, stands at the capital's Azimpur intersection. But what's more fascinating than the distinct architecture is the fact that big nameplates on the building read "public toilet".

People who pass it every day are bewildered thinking why a public toilet would look this grand.

The truth is the three-storey building isn't a public toilet at all. It's a library of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) called "Azimpur Nagar Pathaghar". DSCC Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh inaugurated the library on March 2 last year.

But almost a year since inauguration, authorities have still not opened the library to the public.

The structure has been built spending crores of taka, said sources at DSCC. There is a public toilet on the ground floor, which is open for use, and the plan was to have a library on the first floor and a coffee shop on the rooftop.

While visiting the building yesterday, this correspondent saw a big padlock hanging from the main gate of the library room on the first floor.

The staffer in charge of the public toilet said the library doors haven't been opened even for a day since inauguration.

The administration has only installed another nameplate stating the library's existence but for all intents and purposes, the establishment has not materialised yet. There are no books in sight.

Local councillor Hasibur Rahman Manik is in charge of the library. He said the establishment has been inaugurated but is still not operational because it hadn't been leased out.

But the tender process of the lease has been completed, and a work order will be issued this month to maintain the library, he said. "We hope we will soon open the library and coffee shop for all. Now, we are starting to collect books for the people."