The library, which was initially set up on the premises of his ancestral home, was shifted to Biren Roy Road in Siriti exactly a year later on January 1, 2002. Initially, many locals had expressed the desire to be a part of the endeavour, but they bolted when they realised that they could not profit from it. Biswas had initially hoped that the members of the library together with the locals could participate in community welfare projects such as cleaning the roads and drains, replacing bulbs etc. But he had to shelve his plans when they showed little enthusiasm.

Barely fifteen minutes into the conversation and this correspondent realised that Biswas was an idealist trying to make a difference in his own way. This soft-spoken BA, LLB has been working with the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) for the past 28 years. Describing himself as a firm believer in God, Biswas said: “It’s God’s blessing that the library has come up in the first place. That it is still functioning despite an acute funds crunch is something of a miracle.” When asked why the library was so named, he explains: “Dr Bose, a former Vice-Chancellor of Jadavpur University, donated Rs 76,000 over one year at the time of its establishment. I had known him for long and he encouraged me to go ahead when I told him what my friends and I wanted to do.”

The library is open for two hours every day(8 pm to 10pm), six days a week. At present it has 125 members. To become a member one has to pay Rs 20 and then a nominal fee of Rs 5 every month. Whether all the members were students, he replied in the negative. “Besides students, we have members from the locality and the suburbs. It is the novels and works of eminent writers that are a huge draw with 60 to 65 per cent of our members.”

The number of students varies from year to year. This year it is around 50. Only 15 to 20 are from underprivileged families though. The library has a 11-member executive committee to look after its affairs. Biswas iterated that the endeavour involved teamwork and described the contribution of the present president Subir Thakur, cashier Shiba Bilas Bose and assistant secretary Dilip Mondal as exemplary.

Singling out Mondal and praising his commitment to the library, Biswas said: “He spends hours binding books that are torn or in a bad condition. He also keeps track of the books that are taken by members so that the library doesn’t lose its collection. He added that the library was hamstrung by scarcity of funds. “The membership could go up to 250 if we had the money to purchase more books, especially those prescribed in the new syllabi for both Madhyamik and Higher Secondary examinations,” he said.

But the pitfalls have not deterred Biswas. “Every year we have a picnic in winter. We also celebrate Saraswati Puja with much fanfare. Every person attending the Puja gets a food packet. We also hold a function on Rabindra Jayanti every year,” he said. Besides, the library also organises recitation classes for students every Friday from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm.

Biswas also set up the Siriti Cooperative Fund which gives loans to local traders and residents on an informal basis.

The library was witness to the romance between Mondal and Sushmita Chakraborty who met, fell headlong in love and finally tied the knot three months ago. Moved by Mondal’s dedication to the library, Sushmita’s mother is convinced that her daughter has found a good and sincere man even though he did not have a permanent job when they were going around. Biswas was instrumental in getting Mondal a job.