Students at Rajya Pustakalaya near Albert Ekka Chowk in Ranchi. Picture by Hardeep Singh

If books are your best friend, a library is your paradise. And the voracious Ranchi reader isn’t satisfied with just one.

The capital’s lone public tome turf — the Rajya Pustakalaya near Albert Ekka Chowk — is no longer able to accommodate the burgeoning family of bookworms who now want two more reading joints to ease the rush.

Five years ago, the state library, with a seating capacity of 450, barely saw 300 readers a day. Today, there’s a serpentine queue in front of the gate long before 9am — the scheduled time of opening — and through the 11 marathon reading hours, some 800 people pour in.

“I live on Kanke Road, which is some 5km from Albert Ekka Chowk. If I get late even by an hour, all chairs will be taken and I will have to go back,” said Alok Kachchap, a Marwari College graduate, and added that another public library in Morabadi-Kanke area had become a necessity to cope with the growing crowd of book lovers.

The capital’s only public library was set up by the erstwhile Bihar government in 1953. Today, it boasts seven reading rooms and 60,000 books on different subjects, particularly humanities and social sciences, apart from competitive examination guides. The library, which functions under the state HRD department, also stacks up 13 newspapers and 23 magazines, including business dailies.

The library, which remains open till 8pm, is mostly used by GeNext who have completed their university education and are preparing for various competitive examinations. Some of them travel long distances to study here and would be highly benefited if two more libraries were opened — one in Morabadi-Kanke Road area and another in Doranda area, 3.5km from Albert Ekka Chowk.

“The state library is stocked up well. But maybe, the authorities can get us some more guidebooks on banking and railway exams. The magazines and newspapers the library subscribes to are of great help though,” said Poonam Kumari, a postgraduate in accountancy from Ranchi University who wants a bank job.

Of the seven reading rooms at the library, two are exclusively for girls. One of them, however, has defunct fans, which again forces readers to cram the other room.

“Ever since Ranchi became a capital city, the academic graph has been going north. More and more students are opting for higher studies, which means our library is crowded throughout the day,” said Amarnath Jha, the librarian in-charge, supporting the city’s need for more public reading centres

Besides the State Library, Ranchi has a handful of private book joints — including the Union Club and Library at Tharpakhna and the International Library and Culture Centre on Club Road — but these require memberships fees that not many can afford.