24 Public Library Scenario in India

 

Table Of Contents

 

1 Objectives

2 Introduction

3 Public Libraries in India

3.1Ancient Period (Before 1200 AD)

3.2 Medieval Period (1200-1757)

3.3 The British Period (1757-1947)

3.4 Post- Independence Period ( 1947 onwards)

3.4.1 Public Library Acts

3.4.2 Public Libraries

4. Present Scenario of Public Libraries in India

4. 1 Synonymous Terms

4.2 Other agencies

4.2.1 Government and autonomous agencies

4.2.2 Non-government organizations (NGOs).

4.2.3 Corporate contribution.

6. Future challenges

7.  Summary

 

1. Objectives

 

After reading this module, you will be able to:

  • To trace about the ancient period (before 1200 AD), medieval period (1200-1757) and the British period (1757-1947 libraries in India,
  • To enumerate post- independence period ( 1947 onwards) public libraries and enactment of public library acts in India,
  • To understand the contribution of government and autonomous agencies, non-government organizations (NGOs) and corporate contribution in the promotion and development of public libraries in India,
  • To aware about the of recent trends and various challenges before Public Libraries.

 

2.  INTRODUCTION

 

Public libraries play a key role in the process of learning. Present society can be characterized as the learning society. Now learning and re-learning are the lifelong processes. Learning is an important factor. Taittriyopanishad says “Swadhyanma Pramadh” never be lazy in learning. Here importance is given on Learning. If we do not learn, it will be very difficult for the people to cope – up with the path for new development. UNESCO Commission for Education in the Twenty First Century 1996, in his report entitled

 

“ Learning : The Treasure Within” has identified the four pillars of learning, These are :

  • Learning to know.
  • Learning to do.
  • Learning to live together.
  • Learning to be.

 

Public library is one of the important learning centre and librarians are the facilitators for lifelong learning. Since early days, libraries have been preserving and disseminating information and knowledge to the members of society. Libraries and information centers are related to verbal learning. Libraries and information centers are ideal places for learning. They work as catalyst in the process of learning.

 

 

3. PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN INDIA

 

Human civilization has seen many phases of development, such as: agrarian society, industrial society, information society, knowledge society and learning society. In each phase, information and knowledge have played an important role in all walks of life. Now it is felt and strongly believed that information and knowledge are the basic resource for the socio-economic development of the people. As society felt and believed in democratization of natural resources or equal distribution of natural resources, information and knowledge have also been considered as natural resource. Hence, the idea of free and open access to information to all was conceived and slowly it has been getting the support and favour from all corners of civil society. Information is considered as a weapon for inclusive and hormonal development of the society. In India, libraries have always been integral part of education system and societal life. In this module the scenario of public libraries has been portrayed during different periods of time.

 

3.1 Ancient Period (Before 1200 AD)

 

In ancient India, oral system of education prevailed in the society, Gurukul system was in vogue for imparting education.

 

Following were the famous seats of learning in India in the past:

  • Taxila : An ancient Hindu and Buddhist learning centre. Famous great Indian scholar Chanakya was associated with this learning centre.
  • Nalanda (near Patna, Bihar), it was a famous Buddhist learning centre. This learning centre was having a splendid library complex known as ‘Dharamganj’, which comprised three large multi-storeyed buildings, and named as the Ratnasagara (Ocean of Jewels), the Ratnodadhi (Sea of Jewels), and the Ratnaranjaka (Jewel-adorned). Ratnodadhi was nine storeys high and housed the most sacred manuscripts. (Wikipedia)
  • Vikramshila (near Bhagalpur, Bihar) also had a splendid library in eighth century A.D.
  • Odantapuri (probably near the Bihar Sharif) was also a learning centre and had a library.
  • Somapuri (North Bengal) also had a good library.
  • Jaggadal (North Bengal) was a university engaged in teaching, writing and translating the manuscripts. The learning centre was having a good library. Other places of learning were : Mithila, Vallabhi, Kanhery etc.

 

3.2 Medieval Period (1200-1757)

 

During Medieval Period some of emperors/rulers, temples, Bauddha Vihars, Jain temples and madarsas were said to have libraries. Theses libraries were not open to general public. Only the members of ruling class, educationists and select few were allowed to use them.

 

3.3 The British Period (1757-1947)

 

The concept of public library had its roots in western world. With the British rulers and men of administration the idea of public library also originated and flourished in India. Some important library initiatives of this period were:

 

In 1808 Bombay Government (now Mumbai) initiated a proposal to register libraries for financial grants. These libraries were to receive free copies of reading materials published from the “funds for the Encouragement of Literature.” This step was the first step towards library movement in modern India. During this period, libraries of princely states were having good collection of books and other material. The important libraries include:

  •  Rampur Raza Library at Rampur
  • Maharaja Sarfoji (1798-1833)’s Saraswati Mahal Library at Thanjavur
  • Safadar Jung collection at Hyderabad
  • Khuda Baksh Oriental Library at Patna
  • Buhar Library at Calcutta

 

Public libraries were established in the various parts of the country by the princely states, Britishers, religious institutions and other influential individuals. Some public libraries are enumerated below :

 

  • Calcutta Public Library in 1835. It was a landmark development in the history of public library movement in India. It became National Library in 1948. John Macfarlane was the first librarian of the Imperial Library
  • Native Library at Ahmedabad in1850
  • Andrews Library at Surat in 1850.
  • Indore General Library founded in 1854 by Maharaja Tukoji Rao Holkar II,
  • Raichand Dipchand Library at Broach,1855
  • Lang Library at Rajkot,1856
  • Connemara Public Library at Madras was started in the year 1860 as a small museum.
  • Institute Library at Delhi 1862 (now Hardayal Municipal Public Library)
  • Stuart Library at Godhra,1866
  • Government Library at Junagarh,1867
  • Town Lakhajiraj Library at Rajkot,1868
  • Apparo Bholanath Library at Ahmedabad,1870
  • Khuda Baksh Oriental Library at Patna ,1876. Opened to the public in 1891. It has the richest collection on oriental manuscripts.
  • Adyar Library at Chennai, 1876. The library was opened to public on December 28,1886.
  • Mahuva Library at Mahuva,1877
  • Barton Library at Bhavnagar, 1882
  • Bhagvatsinhij Library at Bondal, 1884
  • Victoria Jubilee Library at Vankaner,1891.
  • Dahi Laxmi Library at Nadiad, 1892
  • Tikhtasinhji Library at Boad 1892
  • Victoria Diamond Jubilee Library at Jalalpur,1897.
  • Punjab Public Library was established in 1900. It was the first central Library in Punjab.
  • Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad-III of Baroda (1862-1939), promoted public library system in his state. He established a full -fledged system of public libraries, including a central library at Mandvi, Baroda, nearly 800 branch libraries and mobile libraries. He invited Mr. William Alanson Borden ( an American Librarian ) in 1910 to introduce a free public library system in state.

 

Other related events are:

  • Government of India passed the Press and Registration of Books Act in 1867
  • Government of India passed Imperial Public Library Act in 1902

 

3.4 Post- Independence Period (1947 onwards)

 

In the post- independence era, the Government of India and other agencies engaged in the development of public libraries in India have established a number of libraries in rural and urban areas. Delhi Public Library was established with the help of Unesco in 1951. In 1955 Central Reference Library was established at Kolkata. Delivery of Books Act was enacted in 1954. It was further amended in 1956 to include newspapers and periodicals.

 

3.4.1 Public Library Acts

 

Nineteen Indian tates have enacted public library acts to provide effective public library service to people in their region. Tamilnadu was the first state to enact public library law. Arunachal Pradesh is the latest State to put Public Libraries Act in 2009 in its statute book. For a complete view of states having public libraries act you may refer to modules 8, 9 and 10.

 

3.4.2 Public Libraries

 

During this period various states and Union Territories have developed state central libraries. A list of few libraries is given below

 

  • Harekrishna Mahtab State Library, Orissa
  • State Central Library of Kerala is also known as Trivandrum Public Library
  • State Central Library, Bangalore (Karnataka)
  • Swami Vivekananda Library, Bhopal
  • T.S. Central State Library, Chandigarh
  • The Anna Centenary Library (ACL), Chennai.

 

4. PRESENT SCENARIO OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN INDIA

 

Present scenario of public libraries can be understood with the help of following diagram:

This diagram indicates that public libraries are learning centres; hence they are supported by all sections of the society.

 

4.1 Synonymous Terms

 

In Indian states various alternative terms are being used for public libraries. All these library and information centres have common function to provide information to locals. The alternatives terms are :

 

Book Deposit Centre, Community Development Library, Community Education Centre, Community Information Centre, Community Library and Resource Centre, Information Centre, Information kiosks, Internet Café, Internet Community centre, Info thelas, Library, Reading Rooms, Rural Business Hubs, Rural Information Centre, Rural Information and Resources Centre, Soochnalaya, Granthalay, Pustakalay, etc.

 

4.2 Other agencies

 

Now there are various agencies working to disseminate information and knowledge to people residing distant places with the help of ICT. In India there are various IT Projects engaged in knowledge dissemination. Some are:

 

Government and autonomous agencies

 

Non-government organizations (NGOs).

 

Corporate contribution.

 

4.2.1 Government and autonomous agencies

 

Following government and autonomous agencies are taking keen interest in the development of public libraries in India.

  • Ministries and Departments (Govt. of India) and autonomous agencies
  • Panchayati Raj Institutions
  • Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).
  • Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation (RRRLF), Ministry of Culture, Government of India. Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation (RRRLF) was established in May, 1972 by the then Department of Culture, Government of India. RRRLF is registered under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act 1961.
  • National Mission on Libraries (NML), Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India. NML was set up by the Government of India on 4th May 2012 with Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation as the nodal agency for this Mission. Various working groups have been set up under the Mission to prepare future plans. There is a plan to link nearly 9000 libraries across the country and project cost will be Rs.1000 crore.

 

State Governments and Union Territories

 

In present scenario public libraries are established, financed and controlled by various authorities. In the absence of uniform policy, there is no coordination and control over public libraries in India. Ministry of Culture, Government of India provides funding through RRRLF to public libraries in India. In states where Public Library Act is enacted it is supervised by various ministries and local authorities.

 

As per Sinha Committee Report (1959) there were 32,000 libraries in India in March 1954. As per Unesco data there were 28000 libraries in India in 1974. “ A Directory of Public Libraries in India” Published by RRRLF in 1986 lists 6149 libraries, and these libraries were getting financial assistance from the Foundation. National Knowledge Commission too has expressed the need of the census of libraries, Commission estimated that there are 54,000 libraries in India Dr. R. Ramasamy reveals in his survey that there were 68,947 public libraries. According to him the present position of state public libraries in India is as follows :

 

State and Union Territories Public Libraries State and Union Territories Public Libraries
Andaman and Nicobar 33 Lakshadweep 10
Andhra Pradesh 4,447 MadhyaPradesh and Chhattisgarh 16,045
Arunachal Pradesh 83 Maharashtra 6,640
Assam 348 Manipur 127
Bihar and Jharkhand 4,566 Meghalaya 05
Chandigarh 09 Mizoram 347
Dadra and Nagar Haveli 10 Nagaland 347
Daman and Diu 02 Orissa 3,533
Delhi 105 Pondicherry 74
Goa 131 Punjab 1,147
Gujarat 7,700 Rajasthan 2,584
Haryana 51 Sikkim 04
Himachal Pradesh 460 Tamil Nadu 2,743
Jammu and Kashmir 85 Tripura 45
Karnataka 4,215 Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhandand 59
Kerala 5,800 West Bengal 5,647

 

4.2.2 Non –governmental organizations (NGOs) and Institutions

 

In India, NGOs are playing an important role in socio-economic development of people as well as in providing knowledge and information to the masses. Some of these are

  •  Religious Institutions
  • Rajive Gandhi Foundation (RGF)
  • Ranganathan Society for Social Welfare and Library Development, (BIMTECH)
  • Sanmati Pustakalaya Trust, Jaipur
  • Joint Assistance Centre (India)
  • Rural Library Foundation, etc.

 

4.2.3  Corporate contribution.

 

Corporate world has also paid attention to their social responsibility. The following are only a few to cite:

  •  Infosys Foundation
  • Sir Ratan Tata Trust
  • Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust
  • Azim Premji Foundation
  • DLF Foundation

 

5.  PUBLIC LIBRARY: RECENT TRENDS

 

India is a country of villages. For the administration of villages, Panchayati Raj system has been adopted. This system helps the local people to take active part in preparation and implementation of rural development programmes. There are three level of Panchayati Raj system:

 

a. Gram Panchayat,

b. Janapad Panchayat,

c. Zila Panchayat.

 

Today, Panchayats have become a backbone of socio-economic development of rural regions of India. In 1993 constitution (73rd amendments) act came into force to provide the constitutional status to Panchayati Raj system. It is concerned with social, economic, educational, etc. development of rural people. But there is no specific provision for the establishment and development of public libraries in rural areas. In the absence of free, easy and open access to knowledge, any developmental activity cannot take place or without knowledge dissemination sustainable development cannot be done. For inclusive development it is necessary to strengthen the public library system in India.

 

6.  CHALLENGES

 

In Indian context the scenario of public libraries has various dimensions. This can be judged by the following lines:

  • Public libraries are state subject (Concurrent List)
  • Centre and states deal in different manner.
  • Only 19 states have enacted public libraries act.
  • The application of public libraries acts also differs from state to state.
  • Different ministries deal with public libraries, such as Ministry of Education, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Social Justice, etc.

 

7.   Summary

 

In this module the overall scenario of public libraries has been discussed and due attention given to cover all dimensions of public libraries in India. In India, libraries have been the part of life and they are associated with the developmental acctivities. Ancient and mediaeval India noticed varoius large and small libraries under the patronage of the great rulers. In modern India the scenario of public libraries has changed. Various efforts have been made by the government, NGOs and the corporate sector for the establishment and development of public libraries in India. It is indeed an opportunity for the common people to have open and free access to the information and knowledge via public libraries.

 

8. References

 

  • http://www.akshaya.net/
  • http://www.himachal.nic.in/lokmitra.htm
  • http://www.meghalaya.nic.in/ blocks/about.htm
  • www.indiaculture.nic.in/nmlcommitee.html
  • www.knowledgecommission.gov.in/downloads/documents/NKC-Library.pdf
  • www.thehindu.com
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nalanda
  • Misra, Jogesh. History of libraries and librarianship in modern India.Delhi : Atma Ram & Sons,1979.
  • Mookerjee, Subodh Kumar. Development of libraries and library science in India. Calcutta : The World Press, 1969.
  • Ramasamy, R. Status of state central libraries in India: Analytical Study.New Delhi :Gyan Publishing House,2003.
  • Sharma, Jagdish Saran. Library movement in India and abroad. New Delhi : Ess Ess,1986.
  • Taittiriyopnishad. http://www.sanskritdocuments.org/all_pdf/taitaccent.pdf
  • UNESCO Commission for Education in the Twenty First Century, 1996” Learning: The Treasurewithin”
  • http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001095/109590eo.pdf.
  • http://www.unesco.org/

 

 Web links

 

 

Interesting Facts

  • Taxila was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site  in 1980.
  • As per NKC Report There are approximately 54,000 public libraries in India.
  • National Knowledge Commission Members are : Dr. Sam Pitroda- Chairman
  • Dr. P.M. Bhargav –Vice Chairman
  • Dr. Ashok Ganguly, Dr. Jayati Ghosh, Mr. Nandan Nilekani, Dr. Deepak Nayyar
  • The Anna Centenary Library (ACL) was established by the Government of Tamil Nadu and located at Kotturpuram, Chennai. It was built at a cost of ₹172 crores (₹1,720 million), it is the largest library in South Asia. (Wikipedia). Can be accessed at >www.annacentenarylibrary.com<