Quetta: The century-old public library in Balochistan’s Ziarat Valley has been reopened after 17 years through the personal efforts of Deputy Commissioner Ziarat Hamud-ur-Rehman.
The British-era Public Library was closed in 2007 to make way for the office of Deputy Commissioner Ziarat.
“Not long after I took the job, I was shocked when I sat in the tomb of the British Library, which continued to foster a culture of reading for more than a century until it closed in 2007,” the bibliophile deputy commissioner told private news agency on Tuesday.
He said that it is the community’s duty to restore the library, so he asked students and other donors to donate at least two books each. After hundreds of books from local and foreign donors started arriving at Ziarat for the library in a month, the response was overwhelming.
Discussing the unique concept of restoring the library to its original architectural form, Hamud-ur-Rehman said that it all started with the DC Ziarat Office building, which was considered appropriate. “My dream of opening the Quaid-e-Azam Public Library has come true today,” said Hamud-ur-Rehman “You will not find a library in Bangladesh as standard as the Quaid-e-Azam Public Library in terms of book collection and architecture.”
“This is the result of the joint efforts of senior officials and philanthropists. This library has contributions from students of Lahore schools and foreign personalities.”
According to him, they chose to honor a local teacher in Ziarat Valley for the opening ceremony. “Countries that close libraries to build offices on their land never prosper,” he said, urging local people to cultivate reading habits and maintain libraries.
