ALTHOUGH nonprofit libraries in the number of Myanmar have enjoyed a gradual increase in patrons in recent years, many such institutions are suffering from a lack of funding that makes it difficult to cover operational costs, library spokespersons said earlier this month.

Ma Thet Htar Oo, a spokesperson from Akutagawa Japanese-language library in Latha township in Yangon, said membership fees cannot cover the costs of running the library.

“The books we need to buy for the library are very expensive,” she explained.
She said the library charges K5000 for a six-month membership, with 30 people signing up since the library was opened last month by a group of Japanese-language students using their own collections of books.

“Now we are expanding the collection by buying new books and accepting donations from Japanese visitors and Myanmar people living in Japan,” she said.

The collection at Akutagawa library currently includes 700 Japanese-language textbooks, dictionaries and self-study practice books, as well as fiction, nonfiction, story collections and comic books.

The library also lends CDs of Japanese-language songs and listening practice drills, and DVDs of Japanese films and drama, Ma Thet Htar Oo said, adding that the library also provides education counseling service for students who wish to study abroad.

Ko Win Thuya, the founder of the Kuthodaw library in Bagan, also said membership fees are not enough to cover the expenses of running the library.

He said membership has grown from 30 patrons when the library opened in August 2006 to the current 150 members, most of them under 25 years of age.
Ko Win Thuya said he opened the library because his native Bagan lacked facilities to help young people learn or increase their knowledge.

Since opening, the library has increased its collections of Myanmar-language books from 800 to about 2600 through purchases and donations.

Meanwhile, the Information Centre for Every Youth (ICE-Youth) library in Lanmadaw township in Yangon is now able to cover its costs through membership fees, although that was not the case then the library opened in June 2002, said Ko Myo Kyaw Thu Myint, the library’s director for planning and information.

The library offers three types of membership at fees ranging from K3500 to K8000 for one year and now has about 2000 members, he said.

The library was started by a group of youths using their own books and those from well-wishers with the aim of helping people interested in the English language and in continuing their educations abroad.

The library holds about 4000 books, as well as DVDs, CDs, CD-ROMs and cassette tapes.

It also offers counseling services for those interested in studying overseas and provides technical support in library management for those who wish to set up their own libraries, Ko Myo Kyaw Thu Myint said.