Library Visit

The PG department of English, St. Philomena’s College (Autonomous), Mysuru, had organized a visit to the Manasa Gangotri campus, Mysore University Library, for M.A. English students on 15 January 2025.

The objective was to familiarize students with the library’s resources and facilities, provide an overview of the university campus, and foster a sense of belonging within the university community. The visit included a group of 24 students, accompanied by three faculty members from the department. The tour of the library was guided by a staff member from the university library. The Mysore University Library is one of the oldest and largest university libraries in the country and the mother of other university libraries in Karnataka. The library started functioning in the year 1918. It has a glorious record of more than 105 years of worthy service with resource collection of 1.2 million items in its systems/repository today. The inception collection of the library was around 2311 books, which was housed in the Jubilee building and later moved to Maharaja’s college campus, and finally the library shifted to a new building at Manasa Gangotri Campus in 1965.

The university has taken up the UPE Holistic Project “Centre for Education of Visually Challenged—DRUSHTEE” to provide innovative teaching techniques to visually impaired students. The center has established full-fledged advanced machinery/equipment and also incorporated a provision of curriculum books in alternative formats such as Braille, audio, electronic, and large print for the education and training of visually impaired students. This is the first of its kind facility in the university system in the state of Karnataka. Students were shown the stack areas and arrangement of books according to the specific subject/s. competitive books, reference section, periodicals, journals, and the Gazette sections, personality development and general reading rooms. The staff explained to the students, the process of issuing and returning books as well as the rules to be followed in the reading room. He also showed the students the OPAC online catalogue and book search facility available in the library. E-sources and other online facilitation counters, free internet surfing for students, were also explained. An orientation program was also set up to cater students’ information about the establishment of the library, various facilities provided, and the procedures to ensure membership and accessibility to students and researchers on the e-portal. A campus tour showcased an overview of the campus and exclusively the PG department of studies in English.

Students demonstrated keen interest in learning about library resources and exploring the campus. This exposure proved valuable, enhancing students’ understanding of the university environment and equipping them with essential skills for academic success.