Ministry directed to setup an e-library at DU

Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina has directed the Education Ministry to take immediate steps to set up an e-library at Dhaka University (DU), reports UNB. The prime minister gave the directive while addressing the launching of the first-ever Bangladesh-made laptop, 'Doel', at the city's Bangabandhu International Conference Centre Tuesday morning. Drawing the attention of Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid and Dhaka University Vice Chancellor Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique who were present at the function, the PM said the present library at the university is not modern enough to provide proper services to its students. "I ask the Education Minister to take immediate steps to establish an e-library at the university," the prime minister said. Later talking to UNB, Arefin expressed his gratitude to the PM for her visionary thinking. The VC also said the present library of the university needs to be kept unchanged in the interest of its students. "A separate e-library will have to be established for modern services. We've already initiated the process to introduce the total automation services for the students," Prof Siddiq said. He said the facilities and space of the DU library are too inadequate to meet the demands of the students. "The library was set up to cater to the needs of some 8,000-10,000 students. But now the number of its students stands at some 40, 000," the DU VC said. Arefin Siddiq said the Dhaka University is providing various online services to its students and teachers. "This year about 0.211 million students have applied for admission to Dhaka University and the total admission test process has been finalised through online," he added.