Gujarat Granthalaya is going to launch eBooks under Online Library for Gujarati Books

Keeping pace with changing reading habits due to digital revolution, the Gujarat Director of Libraries has decided to convert 70,000+ books into 'e-books' to make them available to readers online. The books will be available for members through 'e-Library Reader' software for computers as well as through Android App for mobile phones as ‘e-book’ or soft copy.

Around 1.95 Cr pages of over 70,000 books will be converted into e-book format and will be made available for their members within two to three months time. These 70,000+ books belong to two state-owned central libraries and a state repository centre, including State Central Library

in Gandhinagar, Central Library in Vadodara and State Book Repository Centre in Mehsana town.

"At present, we are undertaking this project for over 70,000 books, for which we have started searching for service provider to carry out the work. The agency will first scan each and every page of these books and covert them into PDF format, which disables unauthorized copying of texts online," said Director of Libraries Dr Varsha Mehta.

The whole process of scanning pages and converting them into PDF and finally into e-books may take two to three months, as the selected agency needs to take care of many technical aspects and conditions specified by the Director of Libraries.

Many of these books are very rare and too old. After scanning the pages, they need to clean pages through digital tools to remove stains and black spots to make the e-book reading pleasant. As per the rules set by DoL, the selected agency needs to develop a specialized 'e Library Reader' (ELR) software for PCs as well as a specialized Android based App to read the converted e-books on smart phones.

These PDF converted e-books will be then be uploaded onto board’s server and users will be given an ID and password to access them. Likewise, they can access e-books on their mobile phones through an Android App. People just need to become member of libraries to get the access.