Odisha Public e-library opens in Berhampur

Berhampur:  Odisha Public e-library set up by Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) and Odisha Society of America (OSA) has started functioning from the Town Hall here.

The e-library will give a boost to the library movement of the state and help computer literate students, B Nageswar Subudhi, a member of the library advisory committee, said.

The e-library here was inaugurated by chief minister Naveen Patnaik at BeMC's Maharaj Krushna Chandra Gajapati Research Library during his visit to Berhampur on August 31 last year. But it was shifted to the Town Hall as it has more space and parking slots.

Equipped with 12 computers, two servers and a projector, the e-library was opened for the public last week. The OSA -- an association of Odia people living in the US -- provided Rs 20 lakh for the e-library through the chief minsiter's relief fund.

The BeMC would be connected with the National Informatics Center (NIC) so that its e-Granthalaya could be accessed as well, said Basudev Panigrahy, management information system officer of the corporation.

The e-library now has two staff members and one technical worker.

The number of terminals will be increased later, BeMC commissioner Chakrabarti Singh Rathore said.

"Odia engineers in the US are working to add more facilities to the e-library," said S N Padhy, advisory committee member.