NATIONAL 5 (Spotlight Weekly)]

Increasing Interest

To cater to the rising number of visitors British Council builds a new building

By A CORRESPONDENT

Cook laying foundation stones : Better facilities in the offing

The British Council complex in Kanti Path is most of the times crowded as it does not have enough room to cater to increasing number of visitors. As the quest for knowledge continues to widen, the council is in the need of larger space. Realizing the need for more space, British Council is constructing a spacious building inside the campus of the British Embassy.

The council will be opening its new premises in Kathmandu in October 2000, the first of the brand new purpose office that the British Council has constructed in any of the 110 countries in which it operates in the last 15 years.

"The move to the new premises will enable the Council to continue expanding its services, in modern surroundings that will reflect a more up to date image of the United Kingdom along with the characteristics of typical Kathmandu architecture," said Coling Early, assistant director of the British Council.

Since the establishment of British Council in Kathmandu, it has always remained as one of the most important places for intellectuals and students.

The varieties of collections of books on different disciplines including literature, political science, constitution, economy and others try to fulfill the needs of inquisitive for people.

UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Robin Cook laid the foundation stone of the new building on 21st April, 2000.

After the completion of the building, the Council will have more space at its disposal to continue expanding its English language training and UK examinations services whilst promoting the use of English for international communication through students and development communities.

Although the place is moving from its central location to slightly further away, a new building will have many things to boast. A complete revamping of the British Council's library and information services will support the goal of providing maximum access to the widest possible range of information - both electronic and book based -targeting young professionals and learners through the range of services on offer, including a multimedia learning center.

The role of British Council in helping the Nepalese students and intellectuals cannot be exaggerated. For a long time, the Council has been providing the services to a large section of Nepalese population seeking information and knowledge.

In this backdrop, the construction of a new building of the British Council has come as a happy event to the Nepalese readers.

"It is good that the Council will now have more space and hopefully more books. The present building of the Council was becoming quite congested," says Saroj Shrestha, a student and a regular visitor to the library.

British Council is one of the most popular libraries in the country. "It is well-equipped and has hundreds of books on wide ranging subjects including fictions and non-fictions," says Shrestha. The library currently has a stock of over 13,000 books, nearly 1500 videos, about 50 CD-ROMS and over 150 audio resources for students.

At a time when there is a dire shortage of good public libraries in the country, the decision by the Council to expand its space is indeed a welcome step.

As the Council projects to complete the construction of its new building within this year, the book-lovers and information-seekers have a reason to celebrate.