Martin Chautari's library is envisaged primarily as a reference library that will serve the needs of researchers, journalists, social activists, students and other professionals. Hence its collection development policy is influenced by the research topics that have been pursued at MC in the recent past and those in which there is current interest amongst Nepali researchers at large (for instance, on state restructuring). Books and other reference materials that relate to Nepali history and society written from any social science perspective receive high priority.
As part of the specialized collection on the media, books and many other types of reference materials (for instance, theses, souvenirs, unpublished seminar papers and reports, etc.) needed for research on various aspects of the media also receive high priority in the library's holdings. In addition, books related to politics, education, democracy, social movements, etc. also receive priority. While some works of literary criticism and essays are also kept, it has been decided that given the space constraint, works of fiction will not be added to the library's holdings.
The library’s current holdings total about 16,000 books, theses, reports and seminar papers, a quarter of which is a special-collection related to the media. After the special efforts made in 2010-11, the library also holds a significant collection of Nepali academic journals. It also houses several magazines and newspapers and the hard copies of their back issues when available. Some online resources (for instance, JSTOR and Project Muse) can also be accessed for free. MC's library is part of a consortium of Nepali libraries working toward gaining further easy and affordable access to more online resources that are already available to users in western university libraries.
The library is open from 10:30 am to 5:00 pm for most of the year except for the three months of Mangsir, Pus and Magh (Mid-Nov–Mid-Feb) when it is open from 10:30am to 4:30pm. No membership is required and visitors can only use the books within MC premises against a valid ID card (in the Reading Centre). Photocopy and printing services at nominal costs are available.
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