Dist library commission receives Rs 6cr as cess

Coimbatore: The district library commission has so far received Rs 6crore as library cess for the financial year 2018-2019 from the city municipal corporation and panchayat bodies in the district. Some village and town panchayats are yet to pay the cess.
In the last fiscal, the commission had received about Rs 9.5crore as library cess, which is essentially a part of the property tax collected by local bodies. Of the total property tax collected, 10% is directed towards library cess.
A senior official of the commission said the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation alone had paid Rs 4.5crore for the year 2018-2019. The commission has set a target of Rs 9crore.
Fund collected as the library cess is the major source for the functioning of public libraries. “We use the fund for buying books, newspapers and periodicals. Every year, about Rs 60lakh is spent for buying newspapers and magazines,” said the official. “Infrastructure and maintenance works are also carried out using the library cess. Also, a significant portion of salaries for the staff working in libraries is paid from the cess. Public libraries get new books from publishers through library orders. Payments for these purchases are also made using the fund.”