Learning: At the heart of it all

The School’s library or LRC (Learning Resources Centre) is a stereotype buster of the gentlest kind. It is neither dark nor dingy and definitely does not smell of musty books that crumble when you flip a page. Instead, its light-filled interiors radiate a calm that holds the bustle of the School together.

The library’s circular building is at the heart of the academic centre. Natural light streams through the glass dome, lighting the books lined along the walls. As you climb up the spiral stairs, you are free to peruse around 38,000 books. The library also offers almost 1900 e-books, 1100 e-journals, 150 print journals, more than 50 databases and more than 5000 AV resources. It does not surprise anyone that “consistently in the last 11 years LRC has been rated very high as a service in the Dean’s Annual Survey,” beams S Venkadesan, Director, LRC.

The polite staff at LRC has garnered many compliments from students. The library is also constantly evolving, responding to students’ suggestions and in the past eleven years there have been many. From practical suggestions, such as “Need more power plug points” to slightly demanding “Please change the seating. Sofas are causing a back ache.” The staff try to accommodate as many requests as they can. The media lab has new computers and AV systems.  The newly-launched service, “Book on my Desk” for faculty gets the book requested by the faculty on their desk within a few minutes.

Interestingly, among the top circulated books in the library in addition to management books are childhood favourites, “Asterix” comics.

Recently, the LRC was also inaugurated at the Mohali campus. Venkadesan recounts how the planning process had begun six months before the unveiling of the library. “We recruited and trained the interns to imbibe the ISB values of service. The interns and other LRC staff spent at least a month training at LRC, Hyderabad,” he said. Now the LRC at Mohali has 10,000 books. To meet the burgeoning needs of students, the LRC would need an infusion of funds. Venkadesan hopes that he can “build specialised “Named” collections at ISB,” bequeathed by some benevolent donors.