Kathmandu, August 19

Kaiser Library in Thamel is facing an acute space crunch as the library building, which was damaged in the 2015 earthquakes, has yet to be retrofitted.

As the first floor of the library building is unusable, only the ground floor is being used. The books that were kept in sacks after the earthquake has, however, been arranged in the racks, though not in proper alphabetical order.

Librarians have not been able to provide books visitors demand. What’s more, visitors need to sit under tarpaulins to read newspapers and books. “We haven’t been able to provide space for visitors to read books inside the library,” rued library assistant Sushil Baral.

“The government has decided to retrofit the building, but we don’t know when this will happen,” Baral further informed.

Despite lack of space, the library has started binding newspapers so that they can be kept for long. The library has also bound around 1,200 old books. The library has 50,000 books and more than 600 manuscripts. It also provides Internet services for visitors.