Asian Libraries - Bangladesh


by Christina Gosnell, Jan 13, 2003 | Destinations: Bangladesh

North South University

Dhaka
Bangladesh

The holdings of the library cover scholarly and scientific disciplines, particularly business, economics, management, computer science, environmental studies, English language and literature, Bengali language and literature, history and culture, psychology, sociology, etc. The total number of books is over 18,000 and is constantly replenished. It subscribes to over 200 journals and 45 magazines and has a separate reference and journals section. The library also has a separate study room. NSU Library is a progressive, dynamic resource, which supports the curricular and research needs of the university. Users have access to research materials, slides and A/V Cassettes, and CD-ROM database. Recently the library has been shifted to a four-storied building to accommodate more facilities and ensure better services.

University of Dhaka

Dhaka
Bangladesh

The library service is an integral part of the academic activities of both the faculty members and students. By the size of the collection (over 550,000 estimated), Dhaka University Library is the largest of all academic as well as other libraries of Bangladesh. But it is not the size, but the excellence of its collection, particularly in rare books, ancient manuscripts and collections developed out of special depositories, it is an academician's playground. Apart from two major sites, the library also maintains the collections of a Seminar section in the main library and departmental libraries. The two major sites are known as the Main Library and the Science Library. The Main Library is in the Arts Faculty Campus. It is housed on three floors. There are two distinct blocks or wings one of which was built in the '60s as the Central Public Library. After the Central Public Library was shifted to a new site, their building was annexed to the Dhaka University Library. Architecturally both the blocks blend together. The main library houses reading materials including text books, reference materials, rare books, ancient manuscripts (over 30,000 manuscripts on various languages, viz., Sanskrit, Bengali, Arabic, Urdu, Persian, Maithaly, etc.) special collections (including UN collection), current journals and periodicals, Abstracts and Indexes in the Humanities and Social Sciences, old journals and periodicals and many more of interest and requirements of the faculty members and students of the disciplines of arts, social sciences, business studies and law.

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