How Noida’s Public libraries are providing a haven for competitive exam aspirants

Some feel there is no such thing as too many libraries and students, especially those from poor families, can benefit from more public libraries in the city

As a new, swanky public library opened in Noida earlier this month, the staffers expected some fiction-loving bibliomaniacs to be one of the first visitors at the place.

A lot of competitive exam aspirants frequent such public libraries in Noida to study in peace. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

However, a group of five adolescents looking to refer to books about quantitative aptitude and calculus walked in and made themselves comfortable.

“I just searched on the internet ‘Public Library in Noida’, and walked in here, with three of my friends who were also looking for a quiet place to study,” said Manish Dubey, a 17-year-old IIT-JEE aspirant at the Coforge Public Library, in Sector 59.

The library not only provides free study material but also a quiet environment to properly focus, said Manish, a student of Government Inter-College (GIC) in Sector 12, and resident of Mamura village.

“Spread over an area of 12,000 square feet, the library has a collection of over 10,000 books in English and Hindi, including fiction, non-fiction, children’s books as well as study material for competitive exams such as the medical, engineering entrance exams, and state and civil services as well as UPSC exams,” said Manjri Mishra, from Coforge, a digital services company which has an office in Techzone, Greater Noida, along the Yamuna Expressway.

Since opening its doors to the public on inaugural day of February 9, the library is being frequented by competitive exams aspirants largely.

“To make the library affordable for people from all strata of society, the membership charges for a whole year are ₹500. Anyone can walk in between 9.30am and 5.30pm and access a host of books provided free of cost here,” said Sudhir Singh, CEO and Executive Director, Coforge.

Rashi Kumari,23, has been visiting the Noida Public Library, located in Sector 15, for last two years to prepare for the state civil service exams.

She started her preparations with free study material available on the internet, as buying books would have cost her dearly. But soon it proved difficult to focus for a long time online, besides straining her eyes. She finally opted to visit Noida Public Library at her friends’ suggestion.

“It costs me just ₹550 for the whole year. I can borrow books as well as read for hours here,” said Rashi, a resident of Naya Bans village, and daughter to garment factory worker parents, in Sector 6, Noida.

“I appeared for PCS prelims last year and missed clearing it by a couple of marks. I have decided to appear again for the exams this year. My self-study would not have been possible if I did not find a space in this library,” shared Rashi, a Bachelor of Arts from IGNOU.

She is one of the 250 students who visit this library every day, said Mahesh Saxena, founder of NGO Noida Lok Manch which runs the Noida Public Library, operational since 2002.

The three-storey library houses over 80,000 books, “and the membership for the library is nominal so that anyone can avail it”, he said.

“We have over 250 students who visit the library every day to study, and at least 90% of them are competitive exam aspirants,” the NGO founder added.

At Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Library, in Sector 37, Arvind Kumar, 21 has turned an inspiration for many students after he cleared a government exam for the post of Postal Assistant in the Ministry of Communications and Information.

Arvind, who lives in a one-room house in Kashiram colony in Sector 37, started coming to the library in May 2022 to prepare for government job exams.

“My father was after my life to get a job as a security guard in a society like him. But I was adamant to appear for the government exam and secure a job. When the Ambedkar Library opened around two years back, it came as a boon for me,” said Kumar, who would study seven to eight hours daily at the library.

Ganesh Jatav, founder of the library, said that it is free of cost for students and houses all books related to government examination preparations.

“We started the library two years ago with a few donated books for competitive examinations and just about five youngsters from the nearby Kashiram colony. Soon, the word spread among students. Today, we have over 100 aspirants who are regulars here,” said Ganesh, who resides in Noida’s Sector 37.

In the last three months, at least 12 students from the library have cracked government examinations, he stressed.

According to Ganesh, all the students visiting their library belong to poor families, living in one-room homes with an aspiration to break through the shackles of poverty with a government job.

“Recently, three of our regulars got selected for Delhi Police, another one with ITBP and one other has also cleared the UPSC Mains exams and is awaiting her final interview. As these students can barely afford any coaching, we try to provide them the minimum for self-study- a quiet place and a strong house of study material,” he said.

According to Deepanshu Singh, Noida district coordinator for “Abhyuday Yojna” -- a scheme of the Uttar Pradesh government providing free coaching to civil services exam aspirants-- the libraries serve as a haven for students who don’t have study rooms or resources to buy study material.

Clearing a civil services examination is a dream that anyone can strive for. But it is difficult for a student with limited resources to study to achieve this dream. While some of these students share their rooms with siblings or family members, others cannot afford to buy all the study material required to prepare for the exams, said Singh.

“As a result, these public libraries offer a solution for such students,” said Deepanshu, who has been a UPSC educator for over 10 years. However, he added that the city could do with more such libraries.

“There is no such thing as ‘too many libraries’ and students, especially those from poor families, can benefit from more public libraries in the city,” he remarked.