PRESENT SCENARIO OF INFRASTRUCTURE, SERVICES, AND USE OF COLLEGE LIBRARIES (AFFILIATED TO VIDYASAGAR UNIVERSITY) IN RURAL BENGAL: A SAMPLE STUDY

A library is the heart of an academic institution. In this paper, we tried to study the facilities available in the library and how much user use its resources day by day. The colleges are selected form two Midnapore (i.e. Paschim and Purba Midnapore) of West Bengal. We take six colleges to form these two districts. All these colleges are affiliated under Vidyasagar University and most of the colleges are established in the rural area of these two districts. One college i.e. Midnapore college had established before Independence (the year 1872), is one of the oldest colleges in India. Students come here from below income level family and study here in General Degree course in Arts, Science, and Commerce subject. The Infrastructure of the colleges is not up to the mark. The Service is also not remarkable. In this study, we found that Midnapore college has better infrastructure and service among all colleges and Despran College is the newest college among these colleges. Maximum colleges have insufficient stuff and fund also. Students are not always ready to use their resources for their study. Librarians take inicitatives to increase the interest of the user to use the library more than the past.