Public Libraries Section

Country Report: India

2002

Public Library Services in India: Systems and Deficiencies

Ever since human civilization dawned on this globe of ours, library i.e. 'instrument for storing of knowledge' in some form or other though not in the present shape, existed. Libraries were in existence even in the pre-historic days both in our country and abroad but with the advent of the European education and culture libraries in its present form emerged as an inalienable element of our present education system. And with the passage of time in the post colonial and post independence days, the concept of library and librarianship has undergone sea changes and to reach this present stage it has to pass through many a curve and contour, nay to pass through many a phases.

The first significant date in the development of public libraries in India is 1808 when the Bombay Government initiated proposal to register libraries which were to be given copies of books published from the 'Funds for the Encouragement of Literature'. By the middle of the 19th century, three presidency towns of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras had their public libraries founded mostly with the active support and initiative of the Europeans for these towns.

The second phase in the story of the library movement in our country lasted from the beginning of the 20th century to 1937. In the first stage of library movement was remarkable for the official backing and patronage of scattered libraries here and there; the second phase was characterized by the Indian intelligentsia taking up the cause of libraries.

The third phase of the library movement began in 1937 when the Congress came to power in many provinces. This phase was really a synthesis of the previous two phases. The main trend of this phase was setting up of village libraries through governmental effort. Assam, Bihar, Bombay, Orissa, Punjab, Cochin and some other provinces and states set up village libraries even travelling libraries. It is estimated that in 1942 there were 13000 village libraries in India.

The fourth phase of the Indian Library Movement may be described as one of consolidation - consolidation with a view to husbanding our sources so as to yield a library service to the maximum number of people. Three epoch making events took place since Independence in the arena of library services of our country in between 1948-1951. The most sensational and monumental event of these three was the enactment of Madras Public Libraries Act, 1948 which was the first concerted effort in India to institutionalise, structure, otherwise, co-ordinate and organise public library services. The second event which was not less conspicuous than the first one was the setting up of the National Library in 1948 by an Act from the old Imperial Library and the third one was the setting up of Delhi Public Library at the initiative of the UNESCO in the year 1951.

The fifth and the most remarkable phase of the library movement in our country is the year 1972 when the Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation was established by the Government of India, in memory of the great social reformer, Raja Rammohun Roy, who stressed the need for the modern education for the progress of the nation. The Foundation was established to spread library services all over the country in active co-operation with State Governments and Union Territory Administrations and Voluntary Organisations (NGOs) working in the field ; it was created to give an ever-lasting push to the library movement in the country.

During these years though several public library systems have developed but the irony of the situation is that neither any effective public library system providing meaningful library services to the enormous rural masses nor an integrated chain of library network has so far developed in the country.

On a look at the existing library scenario prevailing in the country, it appears that there are several public library systems, as stated below :

The British Government in India entrusted public library services to the local bodies (Municipalities in the urban areas and District Boards in the rural areas) in keeping with the practice in their own country. However, the local bodies were not empowered to levy library cess to finance public library services. Thus, the expenditure on public library had to be met from the consolidated fund of the local body concerned.

If we go back to trace the genesis of public library system in the country, it is observed that as back as in 1957, the Sinha Committee was appointed by the Govt. of India to review the public library system and suggest measures for its future development. It was the time when only the composite Madras State had library legislation which was accepted as a common pattern for adoption by other states. On the recommendation of the Sinha Committee, the Sen Committee was appointed in 1963 and the Sen Committee recommended, for better public library services in the country and the hierarchical structure of public libraries, based largely on Madras Public Library Services Act, 1948. The national scenario has undergone a sea change since 1963.

1. Tamilnadu Public Libraries Act, 1948 having provision for library cess (10%) on property tax;
2. Andhra Pradesh Public Libraries Act, 1960 having provision for library cess (8%) on lands and buildings;
3. Karnataka Public Libraries Act, 1965 having provision for library cess (6%) on lands, buildings, vehicles and profession;
4. Maharashtra Public Libraries Act, 1967 - No library cess - State Government meets the expenditure;
5. West Bengal Public Libraries Act, 1979 - No library cess - State Government meets the expenditure;
6. Manipur Public Libraries Act, 1988 - No library cess;
7. Kerala Public Libraries Act, 1989 having provision for library cess (5%) on property tax and not less than 1% of State expenditure on education;
8. Haryana Public Libraries Act, 1989 - Local bodies to levy cess;
9. Goa Public Libraries Act, 1993 - Surcharge on IFML @ 0.50 ps. Per ltr. And 0.50 ps. On bulk bear per ltr. And 1% on State Education Budget;
10. Mizoram Public Libraries Act, 1983 - No library cess - State Govt. meets the expenditure;
11. Gujarat Public Libraries Act, 2002 - No library cess;
12. Orissa Public Libraries Act, 2002 - No library cess.

Thus, it appears that the public library system prevailing in the four southern states and in the State of Goa in the West and Haryana in the north part of the country, follows one pattern, rather, one system i.e. library cess to meet the expenditure. Under this system, there is a hierarchical set-up in the administrative structure framed on the basis of the library legislation of the concerned state. The apex library in the state is the State Central Library, below this District Central Library there are Branch libraries in the semi-urban and rural areas, public library services in these states are provided by District and City Local Library Authorities. About 13000 public libraries have been rendering services in the southern part of our country. In the second system prevailing in Maharashtra, West Bengal and Manipur, no library cess is levied, but public library service is provided by the State Government. In case of West Bengal, through Local Library Authorities, but in Maharashtra and Manipur, it is under grant-in-aid system. Under this system, though there is a hierarchical pattern, but no integration amongst libraries exists, like the southern part, State Central Library is at the apex of the library system in the states and there are Divisional Libraries/District Central Libraries and below these libraries there are Sub-Divisional/Town Libraries in West Bengal and Divisional Libraries and District Libraries in Maharashtra and below Sub-Divisional/Town Library in semi-urban/rural areas, exists sponsored primary unit, or rural sponsored libraries in West Bengal, whereas Tehsil library and categorized, aided 'A', 'B' and 'C' libraries in Maharashtra. Manipur serves only District Libraries and aided club libraries run by NGOs. Thirdly, states like Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and all north-eastern States, public library service is provided by a Department (Education or Art & Culture) of the concerned State Government where in the hierarchical pattern, besides State Central Library as apex library in the concerned State, there are District/District Central/Divisional Libraries, Tehsil Libraries, Sub-Divisional Libraries and Village Libraries run by NGOs serving both urban and rural mass. But both in Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, besides District Libraries, School-cum-Public Libraries are providing library services.

Maharashtra and West Bengal has a long tradition of voluntary organization providing public library services. From 1830s 100 of voluntary organizations came up in the State, more so during the freedom struggle this led to establishments of 1000 of subscription libraries which charged annual subscription and a deposit to finance the library. When the Manipur Government passed the library legislation in 1967, it decided to bring the subscription libraries into the State Library System and put honorific notice boards outside their buildings naming them as District Central Libraries and Taluka Libraries and provided them aid just enough for survival. The Govt. of West Bengal passed its library law in 1979 and covered most of the subscription libraries as sponsored libraries under which all employees of such sponsored libraries will receive salary out of the consolidated fund of the Govt. of West Bengal. This has caused the library dearly and the maximum amount of the total expenditure goes into salary of the staff. This is the only state in India where there is a Cabinet rank Minister for Library and an annual budget for the current year amounts to Rs. 66.00 crores to render public library services to 2500 libraries.

It is the state of Kerala which provides the public library services under the fourth public library system. The unique feature of this system is that it is being monitored by two Departments running at parallel level. As per the Act, the State Central Library is treated as a separate Department, it has no regional libraries or District Libraries in the State or Branch Libraries so it is functioning in isolation as an independent library. The expenditure on this library is met from the consolidated fund of the State exchequer. Soon after the implementation of the Act, the functions of the Kerala Granthasala Sangam was transferred to the Kerala State Library Council which is more or less a Department of Public Libraries working for the cause of the public library. It functions directly under the control of the Kerala State Government, Department of Higher Education. The members of the Government of the Kerala State Library Council are elected on democratic principle. The Government releases grant-in-aid to 3458 public libraries of different categories through Kerala State Library Council. Till date, there are no District Central Library in the State with adequate infrastructure serving the rural and urban public as Branch Libraries as developed in the other southern States. What is unique to note about the public library system in Kerala is that the Act recognized the importance of public library service and organise them with public support and public involvement is the guiding principle. Non-governmental organizations take much interest in developing the public libraries. The Executive Body which is pre-dominated by non-official is a body in which members are duly elected in a democratic way. Library Service is provided to the public cent percent in cities and towns and 90% in villages. Local resources are being fully tapped in developing public libraries in procuring sites and collection of books and furniture.

As state differs in size, population, literacy rate, status of books produced in regional language, economic growth, public library system also differs from state to state so far as its infrastructural facilities and patterns are concerned. The library scenario is not uniform in the country. A library in Municipal Town in our country is designated as Town Library and one outside Municipal Town as Rural Libraries. Again, the rural libraries in some states form a part of the public library system and in some other states they came under the jurisdiction of Adult Education Department or Public Relation Department. In Madhya Pradesh, three Government Departments i.e. Education Department, Panchayat and Social Welfare Department and Tribal and Harizan Department are promoting and supporting public library services in rural areas whereas in Haryana several libraries are run by the Public Relation Department of the State Government. Aided Libraries in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Kerala have been grouped into different categories on the basis of size, resources and strength of library whether located urban or village center. The Village Libraries in Bihar and Orissa are part-time subscription libraries which have given poultry sum as aid. Experiments are being made in some states like Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat to combine rural libraries with school libraries. In many parts of the country, including the north-east, rural libraries are established and maintained by local clubs and voluntary organizations. Thus, there are different types of rural libraries prevailing in the different parts of the country. They differ not only in size and nomenclature but also in the type of management and level of financial support even within the same state. The library scenario in the State of Bihar is not at all encouraging, there is very little state funding to the library where out of 53 Districts (before bifurcation). There are only 23 District Libraries and the funding from the State is in the form of grant-in-aid. The grant received from the Government was Rs. 46.00 lakhs only. There is, therefore, stunted growth of library movement in Bihar. Even some old reputed libraries have become non-functional.

In the state of Andhra Pradesh the library services are rendered through the provisions of the Act which has been amended to as the Andhra Pradesh Granthalaya Parishad. Besides, the State Central Library, there are seven Government Libraries, 23 District Central Libraries and 2348 Village Libraries, Branch Libraries, Model Libraries and Book Deposit Centres and also 1455 other type of libraries, nearly 5000 public libraries provide public library services in the State.

The creation of the Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation in the year 1972 as the nodal agency by the Government of India to promote and support public library movement and to take the library movement to the grass-root level is the latest measure adopted by the Government for providing of public library services in the country. The Foundation dedicated itself to do this noble job with the slogan "Books For The Millions At Their Doorsteps", with the operation of several schemes of assistance as given below :

Matching

1. Assistance towards building up of adequate stock of books;
2. Assistance towards development of Rural Book Deposit Centres;
3. Assistance towards organization of seminars, workshops/book exhibitions etc;
4. Assistance towards storage and display of books;
5. Assistance to public libraries below Dist. Level for increasing accommodation;
6. Assistance to acquire TV-cum-VCP to public libraries/computer for computer application in public libraries.

Non-matching

1. Assistance towards adequate stock of books;
2. Assistance to centrally sponsored libraries;
3. Assistance to voluntary organizations providing public library services;
4. Assistance to children libraries or children section of general public libraries;
5. Assistance to libraries towards centenary celebration.

On analysing the trend of assistance rendered by Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation in the course of 28 years, it is found that the lion's share of assistance which is nearly Rs. 11.00 crores in the current year goes for the rural people of our country. There is no doubt that Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation's programme of assistance is most helpful to the cause of public library services in the country. The programme provides the best example of resource sharing between the centre and the state for the development of public library services at all levels. The Foundation has taken long strides in promoting library service in the country. With the expanded activity during the Eighth Five Year Plan (1992-1997), the total plan grant reaches Rs. 1175.70 lakh against Rs. 614.40 lakh during the Seventh Five Year Plan, from the Govt. of India with an average annual plan grant @ Rs. 235.14 lakh and from the State Governments Rs. 645.97 lakh7 against Rs. 279.40 lakh during the Seventh Five Year Plan, with an average annual contribution @ Rs. 129.19 lakh. During 2000-2001 the plan grant stepped up to Rs. 725 lakh and the contribution received from various State Governments also reached Rs. 473.60 lakh. Consequently, the amount of assistance rendered to libraries during the year 2000-2001 also reached Rs. 819.51 lakh. During the last 28 years, the Foundation has covered, out of 60000 public libraries located in the country in a scattered way, more than 31000 libraries at different levels.

Wide-spread illiteracy is the greatest handicap for developing library service in some urban and rural areas in the traditional pattern. It is true that some dedicated people nowadays live in villages but by and large the village dwellers are crippled with illiteracy or limited education. The rural folk have to work hard to earn their living. At times all the members of a family remain unchanged in the productive process. Reading books, they feel, does not increase their professional efficiency or productivity. There is, therefore, no motivation for learning and thus using library.

The challenge posed by the electronic media or television is real and its impact on reading habit or library use has been very negative. Witnessing television programmes has made great in roads on reading books for pleasure.

Lack of resource is another serious bottleneck in developing library services. The condition of the majority of rural libraries, particularly, in the heartland of India, is extremely miserable. Many of them do not have their own building, some are located in small thatched huts and some share a room and time with their institutions. Very few libraries can provide reading-room facilities even. Storage facilities are also very poor. Stock of reading materials is insignificant. Moreover, the service is highly irregular and uncertain. All these does not encourage people to use libraries. There is also the dearth of suitable reading materials in regional languages. The demand for books in rural libraries is mainly limited to light literature in regional language.

The quality of library service depends to a great extent on the quality of a person rendering the service. It is the librarian who can make or unmake the services. While his imagination, initiative, resourcefulness and dedication can make the library an ideal public institution, is apathy inertia and lack of dedication will make it a dull and dreary organization. What is therefore, needed most is a competent librarian who can organise the services in a balanced manner for all sections of the community served by the library. In order to attract the right type of persons to the library profession, the service condition of the library professionals need improvement.

The absence of a Public Library System in most of the states and union territories is also responsible for the haphazard growth of libraries in rural areas. This system can be devised by legislation or administrative sanction.

The problems of developing economy have strained library services in many ways. Inflation has depleted the resource of the libraries. As the purchasing power of the rupee is being reduced, the quantum of reading materials that can be acquired also gets reduced.

Due to constant increase of price, inadequate collection of subscription from the readers is not sufficient to maintain the libraries.

The need of the hour to provide better library services is to make provision of free and compulsory public library service. In the wake of the slogan "Education for All" comes in the complementary battlecry of "Books for All". As a consequence of making education a fundamental right, free unhindered easy access to books and libraries also becomes essential. The right to have easy access to books is to be ensured.

Need of the hour is to open more libraries. According to International Federation of Library Associations & Institutions (IFLA) standards, there should be one public library for every 3000 people with every 1 billion people India needs according to this standard more than 3,30,000 public library units. In order to keep pace with the growth in population and the explanation in knowledge, almost every other village will have to be provided with library facilities. One of the IFLA standards stipulates with the nearest library unit should not be more than a mile away from the residential areas.

There is a feeling among a section of a people that illiteracy may not need libraries. It must be asserted that illiterate people are not ignorant people. Many of them are quite enlightened and are receptive to new ideas and currents of thought. The whole lot of them could be further enlightened by public libraries through their extension programmes like lectures, discussions, film-shows, folk-dramas, exhibition, puppet-show and reading out books to them etc. The main reason why the public library movement has not yet reached the take-off stage is the acute paucity of funds. It was suggested by a committee of expert that 10% of the education budget should be earmarked for the development of public library system in a state. We require more fund because (i) the number and variety of documents being published both in our country and abroad has multiplied phenomenally, (ii) there is also the need to buy more audio-visual aids to inform and enlighten the library users, particularly, the children, the illiterate and the neo-literates, (iii) the necessity of providing telecommunication facilities to all libraries down to the village information centre, (iv) a majority of our existing libraries do not have functionally planned buildings, (v) the rise in the cost of living including the soaring cost of books, sky-rocketing, subscription to journals, binding materials, building materials and finally there is the desparate dersideratum of the hour i.e. computerizing the library services, (vi) enactment of library laws in the remaining 18 states and 6 UTs.

The public library movement in our country is far from picking up volume, velocity and vigour. The Foundation should come forward to formulate a positive and aggressive developmental time-bound plan for the librarisation of the entire country. To start with, complete librarisation of very backward districts in each state may be admitted at the very earliest.

The public library has to serve as a cultural and educational centre of the community in which it is located. It has to serve as a school, college or university of the community. In a developing country like ours, the public libraries should have a very vigorous extension programme.

What needs urgent attention to be done is (a) networking of libraries for resource sharing and avoiding duplication, (b) creation of compatible computerized databases, (c) formulation of preservation programmes for libraries which have rare books/manuscripts, (d) awareness creation among users and library staff regarding the need for libraries and preservation of books, (e) modernization and automation of libraries for easy accessibility to use, (f) resource mobilization for development of libraries to be made through different agencies involving industrial houses, (g) more phases for development of library movement in rural areas, particularly, in backward states like Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh etc., (h) need for training of library professionals particularly, in computer applications, (i) more schemes of grant-in-aid to NGOs providing public library services, (j) setting up of an apex body to oversee and monitor the library and information system in India.