Despite being one of the fundamental resources for higher education, university libraries in our country are often not taken as seriously and utilised to their full potential. The primary problem is the lack of funding, digitisation efforts, research assistance, and up-to-date resources offered across different institutions all around the country. 

But part of the issue is also that students, from the very beginning of their undergraduate journey, are often not guided properly on how to use certain resources even when they are readily available. Consequently, we end up relying heavily on pirated sources that are sometimes more inaccessible and harder to obtain, or simply go through the most crucial stage of education without tapping into one of the key assets of academia. 

While school/college libraries do familiarise students with the general environment, etiquette, and primary processes of a library, they don’t prepare students for navigating a university library. Since we generally start writing academic papers or learn about research and secondary sources after starting undergraduate studies, a freshman is usually not aware of the range of facilities a library can offer in this regard. 

Therefore, university libraries should not operate like a passive presence that’s there only when a student knows how to reach it, because most of the time even students who are not newcomers are not aware of its resources simply because of the lack of information. Instead, a regular, active institutional effort is needed from library authorities and departments in terms of providing students with a proper orientation and set of guidelines that outline all available repositories, amenities, assistance, and their usage. 

One of the most important and timely requirements our institutional libraries lack is digitisation. At a time when ready access to a colossal volume and variety of information is a key element for a fast-paced, inquisitive academic environment, digitisation of library catalogues, institutional repositories, and automated access to digital databases is vital. 

Some basic digital integrations for a university library include a functioning and easily navigable library website, an access management system like OpenAthens that provides a single sign-on (SSO) facility for different scholarly databases, RFID systems for inventory management, and Integrated Library Systems (ILS) like Koha that can automate access to the public catalogue, the process of finding, borrowing, or renewing materials, and other key processes.

Although some prominent public and private universities are now working on building digital infrastructure for such facilities and accessibility, it’s nowhere near enough, as most universities across the country are not there yet. Even the ones who are in the process of doing so either do not keep their students well informed enough for them to actively use these resources or fail to regularly upgrade subscriptions to different databases and offer holistic assistance for a seamless experience. 

Personally, I have used both the libraries at Jahangirnagar University and then BRAC University when I changed my major. At JU, the process of obtaining a library card in the first place is a matter of rather unnecessary bureaucracy, as instead of the student ID doubling as a library membership, one must obtain a separate card from their respective hall offices. 

Although there is an OpenAthens integration that provides access to various e-journals and their publications, newcomers often have no awareness of this resource due to the lack of visible efforts by the authorities to inform students about it. Plus, since an OpenAthens membership has to be activated by contacting the concerned IT administration, it poses an additional hurdle at universities where IT support itself is an inefficient, slow process. 

On the other hand, the experience at BRAC University is a bit less confusing. The student ID itself doubles as the library membership, and the OpenAthens account can be activated within one or two working days by simply filling out and submitting a form online, which can be easily found on the library website itself. 

Furthermore, BRACU has dedicated research assistance counters where students can seek help about correctly using complex academic materials, proper citations, or other research- and resource-related issues. 

However, despite the OpenAthens integration and its relative ease of usage, sometimes subscriptions to specific journals are not upgraded timely and the available open access content is also not always adequate. Which brings us to one major issue that still persists even in universities that have started digitalising their operations and inventory access.

While management systems like OpenAthens are convenient because one can access a big range of databases and e-resources using a single portal, most of the content that can be reached through it is open access. Which is to say that these are available to all whether or not you’re using such a system to access them.

In a way, only providing access to these materials through institutional systems defeats the whole purpose because a university library should be a gateway to academic materials that are too expensive and difficult for students to obtain personally. 

Furthermore, while many libraries have a growing collection of reading materials, they still lack sufficient access to audiovisual and media-based content, which are now important resources and documentation required for academic or research work. A better-designed allocation of funding would facilitate institutional subscriptions for the paid content of different varieties of academic databases. 

Additionally, we have this collective stereotype embedded in our minds about librarians and related officials, where their only job is to organise books on shelves and go around shushing people who are too loud. But they are actually a vital human resource that most of our universities fail to employ and utilise accordingly. Library attendants and officials who can navigate the increasingly digitalised and complex information management systems efficiently and can also deal with helping students with academic processes are key to the smooth functioning of a university and its research sector. 

However, Library Sciences or related majors are considered an obsolete discipline in our country and there is a consequent lack of funding and sufficiently updated training programmes in this sector. Often, library officials in our universities are not equipped with the skills it takes to keep up with the rapidly changing demands of contemporary academia and actively engage students through feasible initiatives; and that reduces the functionality of an institutional library by a big margin.

The primary function of a university library is not simply being a quiet reading space. It’s actually one of the most important academic assets for our higher education and research sector. Being able to access and utilise information efficiently and impactfully is a vital skill set for all learners in this day and age. 

So we must upgrade the facilities, infrastructure, and overall approach of our university libraries in keeping with the changing landscape of contemporary academia instead of treating them like static relics that have no active role in the day-to-day processes of education.