PANAJI
A group of senior citizens from the capital city have urged authorities of the Central Library to reopen its reading room which was functioning in the Massano de Amorin edifice for decades.
The reading room that several citizens visited for access to newspapers, magazines and some other reader-interest publications had been shut in mid-March of 2020 when the first nationwide lockdown was imposed due to the Covid pandemic.
Julio Fernandes, a senior citizen, has demanded that the Central Library restore the reading room as it is very cumbersome for them to go all the way to the EDC Patto Plaza area where it is now located.
According to Fernandes, this reading room at the Massano de Amorim existed since the 1950s even before the liberation of Goa.
"I recall using the reading room regularly even during my college days in the 1970s," Fernandes said, adding that the decision to shut it down is impeding access to knowledge for the citizen.
Fernandes said he along with a group of other senior citizens residing in the capital city had written to the Central Library authorities in October last year requesting that this reading room which was shut due to the pandemic be restored.
