They are called ‘the men of the library’ because they are dedicated voluntary workers of the library. They help in cataloguing books, exchanging or issuing new books and even dusting the shelves — the members of Bally Sadharan Granthagar Karmisangha are as good as library staff, only they do it not for a salary but out of love for their local library.
Formed in Bengal in 1940, the group comprised dedicated library workers, who would help the library staff in all activities. The Karmisangha was formed under the leadership of Ratanmoni Chattopadhyay and the first director was Pravat Kumar Mukhopadhyay.
Over the years, Karmisangha has increased in size and activities. In 1981, when Bally Sadharan Granthagar became a government sponsored town library, Karmisangha was also registered as an association of library workers. Most of the library’s activities depend on the members of Karmisangha. The children’s section is entirely managed by these voluntary workers.
At present there are 88 members of Bally Sadharan Granthagar Karmisangha and any new entrant has to prove his or her dedication towards the library in order to be a member of the association. “Members are inducted on the basis of their dedication. Those who are regular visitors to the library and show interest in library activities are later inducted as members,” said Sumit Mukherjee, a member of the Karmisangha since 1975
“In our schooldays, our fathers or uncles would drag us to the library and make us remove the books and clean the shelves and also help in stock taking. We still do that once a year and also help the librarians and staff in indexing new books. The library is huge and the amount of work that accumulates is difficult for the staff to complete on their own,” added Mukherjee.
The traditional practice of inducting members includes taking an oath on Janmastami. “Janmastami is the foundation day of Karmisangha and new members are inducted on this day. A sloka from the Geeta on Karma is read out after which the new members take the oath,” said Utpal Kumar Mukhopadhyay, the secretary of Karmisangha.
Karmisangha is celebrating its diamond jubilee this year with a variety of activities. A special screening of mountaineer trekker, Anindya Mukherjee’s cycling expedition from the Equator to the Tropic of Capricorn in Africa was done on one evening at the library seminar hall. The biggest event is the annual Soumen Charukala Utsav that continues for a month from November to December. A special workshop on masks will be held this year where school students will take part.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> Howrah> Story / by Dalia Mukherjee / Friday – December 12th, 2014