LAHORE: Several social media posts have claimed that Lahore city has five government-sponsored libraries, with one accessible to the general public. The social media posts also allege that all 5 libraries were constructed before the independence.
According to some section of media, the social media posts’ claim is somewhat true. The city does indeed have only five public libraries, but only two were constructed before 1947.
A social media user wrote that there were five government-funded libraries, each constructed before 1947 and none are accessible to all except one.
Fact-check
To date, the social media post has racked in 21,000 views and about 200 reposts.
It is true that the city of Lahore has access to five public libraries but only two of these were constructed prior to 1947.
Taufiq Ahmad, the director of public libraries in Punjab said that three of the five libraries are managed by the government of Punjab: Quaid-e-Azam Library, Government Model Town Library and the Government Punjab Public Library.
Officials said that two out of five libraries were established in 1908 and 1884 in Lahore. It added that rest of the libraries in Lahore were constructed in the 1980s.
