A seminar titled “Role of Libraries in State Reform” organized by the collective library movement was held on 21 September 2024 Saturday in the Microbiology Department Auditorium of Dhaka University.
Honorable Advisor to the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education of the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Prof. Dr. Bidhan Ranjan Roy Poddar was present as the chief guest on the occasion, Afsana Begum, Director of National Book Center, writer and teacher Safiq Islam, writer and publisher Firoz Ahmed were the special guests. Abdus Chattar Khan, president of Sammilita Pathagar Andolan, presided over the event.
Adviser to the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education Professor Dr. Bidhan Ranjan Roy Poddar said that constitutional reform or any reform will not be beneficial unless people are reformed. If people can’t reform, there will be no results. The state can be reformed through the reformation of people. Libraries can reform people. It can be reformed through study and practice. What is done for reforms, in reality it does not work. Reforms are implemented by people. The way the modern world is going there is no substitute for learning. People’s attention spans are shrinking because of Facebook. Harmful to the individual, to the society. The remedy is book reading. Reading helps to develop thinking, imagination. Empathizes with people. The state can be reformed through the reformation of people.
Representatives of various private libraries from remote areas of the country were present in the seminar and participated in open discussions.
Incidentally, the organization of representatives of private libraries started its journey with the slogan “Library is the university of the people” in 2022 at Arjuna, Tangail in the country’s first library conference.