Libraries in Pakistan; a Perspective

From the Daily Times of Pakistan, a bit of history on the Public Library of Peshawar, its limitations and its goals. No internet, no air conditioning, no heating, but a growing collection of 100,000 books. The Archives Public Library has the honour of being the first library of NWFP, North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, (established in 1946, one year before independence), and only one of four on the Indian sub-continent at that time.

The article talks about how during the period of British rule, “Religious clerics also played a major role in lack of educational activities because they believed western education would take the youth away from religion and would have an adverse effect on Muslims’culture, customs and traditions.”