Patna University Central Library. Telegraph picture

Patna, May 30: Patna University (PU) administration has decided to close the Central Library indefinitely for renovation despite the students demanding that it should remain open for 24 hours.

PU vice-chancellor (VC) Sudipto Adhikari told The Telegraph: “The present state of affairs in the Central Library is very bad and it needs a complete overhaul.”

The VC said the renovation and modernisation work has to start and the library will remain closed for one to one-and-a-half months till the work is completed.

The VC has planned to give a makeover to Central Library considered to be one of the oldest libraries in Bihar. At present, there is no clear record of books and magazines in the library. The benches and chairs are broken. The bathroom of the library also needs renovation.

However, various students’ bodies have been demanding that the library be kept open 24 hours. The students claim that as there is uninterrupted power supply in the library many students of the university, who live in hostels, visit the library to study.

The students have made several representations to the university administration demanding that the library be kept open. A meeting of the university administration and representatives of the students’ bodies was held at the VC’s office.

Sushil Kumar, a member of All India Students’ Federation, said: “The university’s decision to close the library is against the interest of the students.”

He added: “Though most of our demands have been accepted by university administration, including Internet connection in the library and supply of latest books and magazines, the administration is still unwilling to keep the library open after 7pm.”

After a clash between two groups of students inside the library in April this year, the university administration had decided that the library would be closed after 7pm. Students, however, have been protesting against this decision.

In its effort to deal with such situation, the university administration has sent an SOS to the district administration for freeing its Central Library premises from the clutches of unauthorised people.

The library is virtually under siege, as more than 200 students protesting against the university’s recent decision to keep it open only from 7am to 7pm have been demonstrating in front of the building.

On Saturday, the VC, along with other university officials and more than 24 senior teachers, including the deans of faculties, heads of departments and principals of colleges, visited the library and tried to persuade the protesters to vacate the library after 7pm.

The protestors, however, did not budge.

Ravish Verma, a postgraduate student of Darbhanga House, said: “We will never allow the university administration to close down the library at 7pm. For this we will go to any extent as the decision to close the library after 7pm was taken in haste without seeking the opinion of the students.”