Karamat Husian Muslim Girl’s PG College can confidently claim to posses one of the best college libraries in the city, catering to the requirements of various undergraduate courses and postgraduate (English) as well. Alibis of budget constraints have never came in the way of building up a rich library which happens to be the basic necessity of an educational institution and our suppliers have never complained of delay or other problems in payment. This obviously speaks for both the sincerity of our management and the commitment of our faculty to their profession.
We are particularly proud of our collection of books on literature in English. Instead of armchair buying, the teachers have taken great pains to search out the relevant texts, critiques and reference works from the collections of various booksellers. Among the leading Indian and foreign publishers whose titles adorn the library are Anchor, Hllied, Blackwell, Cambridge University, Press, Icon, Faber, Katha, Macmillan, Mc Graw Hill, Norton, Orient Longman, Oxford University Press, Pencraft International, Penguin, Permanent Black, Pluto, Routledge, Sahitya Akademi, Seagull, Vintage, Viva, Wordsworth and Worldview etc.
The English Department has a large number of books on Literary theory, fiction, poetry, drama, theatre, linguistcs, women’s issues and cinema studies including nearly two dozen companions to the world's greatest litterateurs published by the Cambridge and other British and American Universities. Some titles which are introduced in the current syllabi of the University of Lucknow but were not available in the country like the texts of Eugene O’ Neill's play “Long Days Journey into Night” and George Lammings “Pleasure of Exile” – have been specially imported for our library. Very few libraries in the country possess these titles in the original.
During an inspection of library Late Prof. B.N. Singh, HOD, Department of English, Lucknow University, was impressed by our collection on Post Colonial Literature and was pleasantly surprised to see a copy of Eucke Bochmen’s “Colonial & Post colonial Litrature" on the shelf. We are proud to possess and indeed teach from a 1923 publication of Matthew Arnold’s “Culture and Anarchy”, albiet yellow and brittle with age, and we are equally proud of our collection on SAARC literature, the most recent addition to the syllabus in 2008.
The library subscribes to a number of journals, newspapers and magazines. The Library practices the Open Access System. Certain days of the week are earmarked for B.A., B. Sc; Part. I. Part II and Part III students for issue and return of books. This way, the students can peruse through the entire collection of books available in the library.
Reference service is available in the library (assistance in searching and locating documents and assistance to catalogues etc.)
Arrangement of collection is subject wise, so one can easily locate the books. Besides the general collection, the library also has a good collection of reference materials like encyclopedias, dictionaries and manuals.
Library Automation process is going on in full swing. Hopefully it will be completed in the coming session.