by Bhupen Goswami

GUWAHATI :British Council’s Digital Library is seeing greater traction from booklovers, students, and professionals in Guwahati. In a digital-first world, British Council Library members in Guwahati are accessing a wide range of educational and entertainment content on their smart devices and computer screens. In line with the increase in ‘on-demand’ content, the British Council has strengthened its Digital Library offering for users across Guwahati and other cities in India, enabling easy access to the best of UK and global content. The mobile app version of the digital library offers a seamless, interactive, and personalised customer journey that pulls together all content in one place and allows members to build their library collection.

The British Council Digital Library membership has become the single gateway to informative and leisure content for the entire family. It offers easy access to over 10,000 newspapers and magazines from more than 100 countries, over 10,000 academic journals through JSTOR and EBSCO – world’s leading resources for academics and students, and 15,000+ full-text scholarly journals, dissertations, working papers, and market reports through ProQuest Central. The digital library also offers video tutorials and training courses on a wide array of software applications and professional development topics, as well as videos and content to improve one’s English. The Digital Library also doubles up as an entertainment hub bringing over 2,500 graphic novels, comics and manga; movies, full-length musical concerts, award- winning comedies, documentaries, and TV shows to members’ fingertips.

In Guwahati, the Digital Library membership and usage have seen significant growth in the past 12 months. Average monthly enrolments have increased by 162 percent in the period; and content formats such as audio books, online newspapers, magazines, and journals have seen significant rise in popularity as per the subscription trends. Dhiraj Jaiswal, 42, resident of Guwahati and member of the Digital Library said – "I have recently subscribed to the British Council Digital Library, and I am very impressed with the vast collection. It is a must have membership which keeps you updated and gives you access to a range of global resources including international newspapers, eBooks, magazines, journals and more. British Council has catered to all my intellectual and entertainment needs during this pandemic, and I recommend everyone to get themselves a Digital Library membership today." To become a member, call +91 9830068181 or visit https://bit.ly/2UqOwvk for more information.

ABOUT THE BRITISH COUNCIL The British Council is the UK's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We work with over 100 countries in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. Last year we reached over 80 million people directly and 791 million people overall, including online, broadcasts and publications. We make a positive contribution to the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust. Founded in 1934 we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body. We receive a 15 per cent core funding grant from the UK government. www.britishcouncil.in