growth of libraries in india

ht. Libr. Rev. (1972) 4,2 1-65

Growth of Libraries in India

ANIS KHURSHIDT

The Indian civilization dates back to 3000 B.C., but there is no reliable evidence to show that any recorded material then existed.1 During the I&e&c period (1500-500 B.C.), however, a vast amount of religious and secular literature was produced; the world’s longest poem, Muhabharatu, was composed in this period. So were the Vedas and Rumuyunu. It was during the timeofAsoka (269-232 B.C.) that his promulgations were inscribed on stone pillars and rocks in two different scripts to become the first official records inscribed in public places .s Thus, these inscriptions could be ascribed as the first libraries of India.3 Also the memorials and shrines built with sculptures of Buddha’s birth stories and discourses, and labelled with short inscriptions have been called “open libraries”.4

Of the earliest libraries, Nalanda university library has a distinct place. It was large enough to cater to the needs ofthousands ofstudents and hundreds of teachers. Foreign scholars used to visit this library to find authen- ticated copies of the sacred books of Buddhism. The library was housed in three splendid buildings; one of them was a nine-storied building. The size of the collection is not known, but it is estimated that it comprised hundreds ofthousands ofvolumes; one visiting scholar, I-tsing, is reported to have stayed for ten years to copy four hundred Sanskrit texts. The library is reported to have flourished until the twelfth century, but as it was completely destroyed, no further details about it are known.5

Besides Nalanda, the famous Chinese traveller, Hiuen Tsang, mentions in his work, Sipki, other Buddhist libraries at Tamralipti (now in West Bengal) and at 24 monasteries. These libraries consisted ofBuddhist scrip- tures and commentaries and were well equipped and had a number of scribes to copy manuscripts. Non-Buddhist works had no place in these collections; if gifts of such works were received, they were sold and their

t University of Karachi, Department of Library Science, Karachi 32, Pakistan. 1 B. C. Law (1949). Antiquity of libraries in India. Mod. L&n. 1,3. 2 Ibid., p. 5. 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid. s This paragraph is based on A. K. Mukherjee (1966). L-6 t

top London: Asia Publishing House, pp. 62-64. rarianshi@; Its Philosophv and His-

22 A. KHURSHID

proceeds used for other purposes.1 Sizeable libraries were also established at other places. Taxila (the famous seat of learning) in the ancient valley of Sind (now in Pakistan) had an adequate library, although a reliable account is not on record.2

The rise of Muslim power in India opened up new centres of learning and scholarship. Amongst the earliest of them were Uch, Thatta, and Multan (now in Pakistan), which became famous for their learning and scholarship during the period 1207-1227.3 But there is no recorded evidence of the existence of libraries during this period. One of the richest private collections consisting ofthousands ofrare manuscripts is still in the small village of Pir Jhanda in Sind, Pakistan.4 With the coming into pro- minence of Lahore (Pakistan) under the reign of Mahmud of Ghazni, this city became an important centre of books and learning attracting writers and poets from various parts of the country. Book collecting was very common although there are no traces of libraries in the recorded literature of this period. It was only with the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate that libraries were reported to have been established as a result of the literary andeducationalactivitiesoftheperiod.Thus,Delhibecametheintellectual competitor of the famous university city of Central Asia, Bokhara. Sultan Jalaluddin Khilji (1290) was himself a poet and patronized learning and scholarship. He established the Imperial Library and regarded its librarian so highly that he “conferred upon him the honour ofwearing white robes which the members of the Imperial House and Nobles of the highest order alone could wear.“sThe Librarian of this library was Amir Khusru, the celebrated poet and musician of the period.6 Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya, the great religious Muslim leader of the time, also established a library by raising funds ; it contained a large collection of manuscripts and was open to the public. 7 The rulers of Kashmir, Bijapur, Golkunda, Gujrat, and Khandesh also had their own libraries.8

This library tradition continued until the Mughuls established their power in India. Delhi had become a flourishing city for libraries during the year 1290-1320; at one time during the reign of Muhammad Tughlaq this city had one thousand school libraries alone.9 The establishment of

1 A. K. Biswas (1962). Libraries in Buddhist Monasteries. Indian Libm. 17,106-108. 2 Ibid., p. 84. 3 Muhammad Zubair (1961). IslamiKutubkhane [Urdu: Islamic Libraries]. Delhi: Maktaba-e-

Burhan, p. 178. 4 Abdus SubbubQasimi (1958). Libraries in the early Islamic world.J.Univ. Peshawar, 6,14. s 0. P. Sharma (1968). Literature of the history of library movement in India. Herald of

Library Science, 7,lO. s Mukherjee, Librarianship, p. 94. 7 Ibid., p. 95. 3 Ibid. g Ibid.

GROWTH OF LIBRARIES IN INDIA 23

the Mughul period, popularly referred to as the golden period of Indian history, had been famous for its educational, literary, and library activities. Like its predecessors, the Mughul emperors, from Babur to Aurang- zeb, maintained their palace libraries. When Babur, the founder of the Mughul empire, established his rule in Delhi in 1526 he had brought with him a treasure of rare manuscripts selected from his forefathers’ personal libraries. Thus, the first Mughul library was established in 1526. Huma- yun, his son, continued his father’s tradition. He shifted the Imperial Library to Agra. He himselfwas a scholar and bibliophile and was so fond of reading that during his travels he carried a select library with him; even while fleeing as a fugitive, he had his books and the librarian. He finally died by falling from the stairs of his library.1 But it was in the reign of Akbar (1556-1605), a separate department for libraries was created to look after the state and public libraries in the capital.2

The later Mughul emperors, following their predecessors’ traditions, augmented the collection of the Imperial Library, the size of which during the time ofJahangir (1605-1637) had increased to approximately 60,000 vo1umes.s Even the Mughul princesses had their own libraries; Akbar had established a library at Fatehpur Sikri for spreading education among women.4 Along with these developments, the ruler of Mysore, Jaipur, and Deccan had also established their own libraries. Among them, the libraries built by Tipu Sultan were quite rich and impressive.5

With the decline of the Mughul empire, however, the library development also received a severe setback. Part of the treasures of the Imperial Library was plundered and taken out of India by Nadir Shah.6 The remaining part of the collection of the Imperial Library and those of the Libraries of Tipu Sultan and the kings of Bijapur met the same fate and found their way to the India Office Library (founded in 1798).7 Of the oldest libraries, the only one surviving now is the Tanjore Maharaja Serfoji (Sarswati Mahal Library at Tanjore founded in 1523 and contains 35,000 manuscripts),s while remnants of early Hindu collections of medieval India are found at Ujjain, Varanasi, Navadirpa, Bikaner, Kashmir, and Nepal.9

Like their counterparts in ancient and medieval Europe, the ancient

1 Mukherjee, Librarianship, p. 100. 2 Ibid. 3 Z&air, Islami Kutubkhane, p. 228. 4 Mukherjee, Librarianship, p. 102. 5 Zubair, Islami Kutubkham, pp. 259-64. 6 Mukherjee, Librarianship, p. 103. ’ Rajeshwari Datta (1966). The India Office Library: its history, resonrces, and functions.

Libr. Q., 36, 13943. 8 K. Ramakrishna Rao (1961). Library development in India. Lib. Q.31,137. g D. T. Rao (1929). Public library movement in India. Libr, Assoc. Rec. 28, 1,

24 A. KHURSHID

libraries of India were directed by scholar-librarians and as such were held in the highest esteem. These librarians were referred to as “mobile libraries” and “memory libraries”.1 In the eleventh century Karnatak, a university librarian, was entitled to the same privileges as were due to a professor.2

When the British established themselves in the subcontinent, India was at the brink of its political disorder and the vast Mughul empire was re- duced to the confines of Delhi. This equally had affected the literary and educational scene in India.

Even at its prime period of learning and scholarship in the ancient history of India, there is no evidence to show that libraries were an instrument of popular education but neither were they so regarded in medieval Europe.

It was, however, to the credit of the British who introduced the concept of public libraries as an instrument of mass education in India. “The British,” according to the Report of Advisory Committee of Libraries,3 “came to dominate India, but they brought with them an ideology and a literature embodying the ideals of the common man with which the whole of Europe was imbued at the time. They could not rid themselves, in India, of the ideals in which they were brought up in England. Inevitably they inspired though they may not have actively encouraged, the setting up of public libraries in this country.” Thus, the history of the modern libraries does not begin before the advent of British rule in India. The earlier traditions of “memory librarian” or “poet librarian” were extant; the Librarian of the Hardinge Municipal Library, Delhi (founded 1902)) for quite some time was the famous Urdu poet, Israrul Haq Majaz. Even today, the libraries of the Universities ofAgra ,(founded 1936), Allahabad (founded 1922), Lucknow (founded 1921), and Gorakhpur (founded 1957)* are directed by honorary librarians who are specialists in other fields than librarianship.

These libraries followed closely the educational developments under British rule. The library scene reflected the nonintervention policy of the East India Company. The European missionaries were, however, active in the sphere of native education and libraries. The Society for Promotion of Christian Gospel, founded in 1698, had established schools and with them libraries of modest size.5 The Society in 1709 sent the first circulating

1 P. N. Kaula (1958). Library Movement in India, in Delhi Library Association, First Delhi Library Conference, 30-3 1 March, 1957, Library Movement: Papers for Discussion, P. N. Kaula (ed.). Delhi: The Association, p. 58.

a K. S. Deshpande (1962). Library movement in the Mysore State. Indian Libm. 17,3. 3 India, Ministry of Education, Advisory Committee for Libraries, Report ( 1959)) Delhi, p. 1. 4 Based onCommonwealth Universities Year book, 1968. London: Association CrfCommonwealth

Universities (1968), pp. 1156, 1571, 1683, 1770. 5 Mukherjee, Librarianship, p. 139.


library of its kind in India to Calcutta.1 These libraries were established at the centres of missionary activities, in Bengal and South India. Occa- sional gifts were also made by the East India Company to found small libraries. Fort St. George and Fort St. David libraries were the result of such gifts. By 1703 the collection of Fort St. George, mostly on divinity, was worth L438.2 The Company’s interest is further evidenced in this library when in 1720 it directed the library “to sort the books into proper classes and to make a catalogue of them to be kept in the Library”.3 The Chap- lain who reorganized this Library was rewarded by the Governor. The Company also undertook to bring books into India through their ships.

The Company started taking interest in education by the 1770s when it decided to support indigenous schools through grants-in-aid. By this time, quite a few scholars interested in Indological research had assem- bled in India; Alois Sprenger, a noted orientalist, was commissioned to survey the resources of the Mohammedan libraries of Lucknow. His three reports4 bear testimony to this interest and throw light on the rich- ness of the resources of Muslim libraries. It was through their initiative that a private organization, called the Asiatic Society, was established in 1784 at Calcutta. Governor Warren Hastings himself was its patron. The Society was thus started much earlier than the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (1823) and had its own library. This Society, along with its library, has played a significant role in the cultural history of modern India.5 Another library of the Society was opened in Bombay in 1804. As a result of this interest, the Fort William College was established at Calcutta in 1800 and a similar institution was created at Fort St. George.

India’s scene of the nineteenth century reflected total neglect of popular education; even the Indian people themselves were indifferent to the idea of popular education. The ancient libraries were either destroyed or their collections were taken out of the country. There was no chain of libraries and hence there was complete absence of any movement to support the cause of libraries. According to John Makin, there were other factors too

which placed India at a great disadvantage in the sphere of library development. Among them were the foreign invasions and internal strifes

1 Ibid. a Ibid. 3 @oted in Ibid. * Alois Sprenger (1896). Report of the Researches into the Muhammadan Libraries of Lucknow.

Selections from the Records of the Government of India, Foreign Department, Serial No. 82. Calcutta: Supt. of Printing.

5 M&l&j& Libniriunship, p. 141. 6 John Makin( 1953). The background to the problem of library provision in India, (unpub-

lished essay for the Library Association Final Examination), pp. l-3.

26 A. KHURSHID

which resulted in destruction of libraries; the problem of many native languages and the imposition of a foreign language as the official language of the country; vastness of the country and cultural, educational, and economic disparities between the rural and urban dwellers; technological backwardness and economic instability.

In this background, the first official support for libraries was evidenced from the Bombay Government’s proposal in 1808 to maintain a register of libraries which were given copies of publications published out of the funds set out for the encouragement ofliterature. Following this year and the Company’s enlargement of educational activities as a result of the Charter Act of 1813, a number of colleges were established and, with them, their libraries. Of these, more than half were in Bengal and most of them in Calcutta, which was then the capital of India. Fourteen of these colleges, were under state control; two of them were under the control of the princely states; and the remaining were run by missionaries. There was not a single college then under the management of Indians, although they had given munificent donations for their establishment; while in the areas that now constitute Pakistan, only one college, at Dacca, was established in 1841.2

Although popular education still continued to be neglected, there had been some signs of expansion in the field of public libraries. In the wake of the educational developments, a number ofso-called public libraries were established. Some ofthem owed their existence to private enterprises often supported by Company officers stationed at various parts of the country. This will be evident from the Political Assistant in Nimar’s letter of 1 Feb- ruary, 1849, addressed to R. N. C. Hamilton, Esq., Resident at Indore. The letter says :

The project of establishing native libraries originated with Captain French. It was his object, as far as possible, to promote education, and to this end nothing could tend more than the encouragement of a taste for reading, amongst those capable of doing so, that, by their example, others might be induced to learn. . . . The sum of I&.. 1397 was collected by voluntary contributions; and books . . . procured from Agra and Bombay. In the selection of the works, the people subscribing were entirely uninterfered with. A list was circulated of books obtainable, and from that they made their selection. It was judged unwise at first to attempt to influence their choice.3

Some of these libraries are still renowned for their rich resources. One such

1 Kaula, Library Movement in India, p. 22. 2 A Guide to Pakistan Libraries, LearnedandScientificSocietiesandEducationalInrtitutiow.Karachi:

Pakistan Bibliographical Working Group (1957), p. 15. 3 India North Western Provinces. Establishment of vernacular libraries in Selectionsfrom the

Records of the Government of India, Foreign Department. Calcutta: Supt. of Govt. Printing, 1849. (no. 8), 117.


library of a modest size (34,812 books in 1957),1 Nilgri Library, has been described in these words :

The real wealth of the Library is, anyway, not on its balance sheet or on view in the mellow Reading Room. It is cached away . . . upstairs on the floor where the stacks climb to the ceiling, and in two upper rooms. . . . Very few people seem to come to these rooms; on most days the inquirer into the history of Ootacamund can pull the library steps from shelf to shelf and browse undisturbed, dusty and happy. For here are the bare bones of British India-transactions of the East India Com- pany, official records of Fort St. George, the trading settlement founded by the Company in 1640 on the site of modern Madras, from its early days, histories of the Mutiny, reports on the Administration of the Nilgiris, faded folios of charts and maps, privately printed calculations of basometric readings and geological deposits and tribal movements across the subcontinent, and scholarly disquisitions on the Vedantu [italics supplied] philosophy and Rejput ballads and Hindu heroes by men in love with India. Here are the complete gazetteers of districts, and slim, yellowing reports put together by dead and gone Political Agents of the intrigues and splen- dours of the native princes, and a folder of delightful watercolour sketches by a major-general of the Madras Army. . . .s

Libraries were also established by the state or local governments. Still others were established as a result ofthe work ofmissionaries; Rev. J. Long in 1851 established a public library of Bengali books in Calcutta, and 10 more such libraries were established through his help in other areas.s Among the libraries established through state and private support were East India Company Library, Bombay ( 17 15) ;4 Madras Literary Society Library (18 12) ; United Services Library, Poona ( 18 18) ; Ratnagiri Nagar Vachanalya, Ratnagiri (1828) ; Calcutta Public Library (1836) now the National Library of India) ; Trivandrum Public Library (1839) ; Sarva- janik Vachanalya, Nasik City (1840) ; People’s Free Reading Room and Library, Bombay (1845) ; Poona City General Library (1848) ; Gujrat Vidyasabha Pustakalya, Ahmedabad (1849) ; Karvir Nagar Wachan- Mandir, Kolhapur (1850) ; Shri Ram Wachan Mandir, Ratnagiri (1852) ; Indore General Library (1854) ; Public Library, Gaya (1855) ; and Nilgri Library ( 1859) .a Unlike college libraries, the public libraries were mostly concentrated in and around Bombay (Ahmedabad, Kolha- pm, Poona, and Ratnagiri). In the areas now within the boundaries of Pakistan, similar libraries were established at Karachi (Liaquat Hall

1 Libraries in India, 1951. New Delhi: Ministry of Education, Government of India (1952), p. 197.

2 Moilie Pauter-Downes (1957). Ooty Preserved. A Victorian Hill Station in India. New York: Farrar, Straw & Gross, p. 55.

* Mukherjee, Librar&hip, p. 144. 4 Very little is known about this library. See N. M. Ketkar, Library movement in Bombay,

in Library Movement in India, P. N. Kaula (ed.), p. 13. 5 Based on Libraries in Zndiu, pp. 156, 175-216.

28 A. KHURSHID

Library, formerly known as Frere Hall Library, was founded in 1852 and Khaliqdina Hall and Library in 1856).

But most important of all was the establishment of the Calcutta Public Library in 1836, which was destined to play an important role in the development of libraries in India. The decision to establish this library as a reference and circulating library was taken in a meeting of the citizens of Calcutta held on 3 1 August, 1835. They raised shares to meet the expenses of this library. Prince Dwarkanath Tagore was its first “proprietor” and the father of the Bengali novel. Peare Chand Mitra, was its second librarian.1 The library received donations of books from private individuals. A valuable collection of books consisting of 4675 volumes was transferred to it from the Fort William College with the sanction of the Governor- General, Lord (then Mr Charles) Metcalf. The Court of Directors of the East India Company accorded their permission to this donation in 1839. The Library was generously supported and patronized by both the Indian and European citizens of Calcutta. In fact, “no other institution of the period could claim such patronage from the general public of both the communities.“s But the 1857 War of Independence lost the active support of the British citizens, and thus the Library was subjected to economic strains. In this situation, the Library sought support from the Municipal- ity of Calcutta and suggested a library tax of one pie in the rupee. The Library was transferred to the Municipality on 20 April, 1890, but no tax was levied for its support. Under the new arrangement, the Library was required to maintain a Free Reading Room for the public. This Reading Room soon became very popular. In March, 1891,1465 Europeans and 958 Indians attended the Reading Room, while the following year in the same month attendance of the Europeans was decreased by 327 but that of the Indians increased by 675.3

The financial status of the Library, however, continued to be precari- ous until Lord Curzon ordered purchase of the shares of the Calcutta Pub- lic Library in 1903. By doing so, the Library was amalgamated with the Imperial Library which was founded in 1891 by combining departmental libraries of the Imperial Secretariat at Calcutta. These libraries included the Home Department Collection consisting of the books formerly belong- ing to the Fort William College and the East India Board in London.4 A Notification in the Gazette of India set forth the aims and objects of this newly constituted Imperial Library to serve as a library of reference, a

1 India, National Library, The .National Library of India: GoldenJubileeSouvenir. . . . Calcutta, 1953, p. 1.

2 B. S. Kesavan (1961). India’s A’ational Librav. Calcutta: National Library, p. 5. 3 Ibid., p. 11. * Ibid., p. 12.

GROWTH OF LIBRARSES IN INDIA 29

working place for students and a repository of material for the future historians of India.

Thus, in 1903 the most important library, which was destined to become the National Library of Free India, was inaugurated by Lord Cur- zon, who in his inaugural speech said :

. l . We regard the Library in the main as a place to which people will resort as they do to the British Museum in London, the Bodleian in Oxford, to pursue their studies under agreeable conditions with every assistance that pleasant surroundings and a polite and competent staff can place at their disposal, . . . It will be a proud and happy reflection if I am able to say that I found Calcutta without a library worthy of the name and left it with a first-class and well-organized institution. . . . Just as many a reader in the Bodleian Library at Oxford has, I am sure, blessed the name of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, its original founder, and of Thomas Bodley, its restorer and second parent, so possibly some day will some future scholar, as his “magnum opus” takes shape at these tables, rejoice that the opening years of the twentieth century attempted to do for literature and learning in the capital of India what the nineteenth century had too long ignored.1

Thus visualized, the Library then contained a collection of about 100,000 volumes, and was modelled very much after the British Museum. Accordingly, the Librarian who was selected to direct this Library was no other person than the Assistant Librarian of the British Museum, John Macfarlane (1866-1906). He continued to direct the Library until his death. Prior to joining the Imperial Library, Macfarlane served the British Museum for sixteen years (1885-1901). “To this day the impress of this pioneer is on the Library.“2

Along these developments, special libraries had also been established to cater to the needs of specialized agencies which were established by the East India Company. Amongst them the oldest in British India is the Geo- logical Survey of India Library at Calcutta (1856). This library, with its rich collection of 260,000 volumes, is considered to be one of the outstanding specialized collections in India and is the best known library of its kind in the world.3 The specialized collections attached with the departmental libraries of the Imperial Secretariat at Calcutta, as described earlier, are now part of the National Library of India.

While these developments were taking place in India, the fast-changing political situation had begun to make its impact on education and for that matter, on libraries. The 1857 War of Independence which financially hit the Calcutta Public Library had its far-reaching effect on the educational development in the country. Sir Charles Wood’s Dispatch of 1854 had

1 Quoted in Ibid., pp. 253-54, appendix. 2 India, National Library, The flational Library of India, p. 1. 8 Makin, The background to the problem oflibrary provision in India, p. 43.

30 A. KHURSHID

already brought about the establishment of three universities at the presidency towns-Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras-when the disturb- ances broke out. These universities, because of their non-teaching functions, were without libraries. But by that time quite a few libraries, public and college, had been established at these university towns.

The administration of India was now the direct responsibility of the British Parliament in London. The unfinished educational policy of the East India Company (Dispatch of 1854) was, however, carried forward by the new administration. The official confirmation of this carry-forward policy was contained in the Dispatch of 1859.

The policy ensuing from the two Dispatches, although instrumental in spreading western education in the rural areas, had its obvious disadvan- tages. According to Makin, “admission was substituted for learning”; examination was the only test of ability and its importance was grossly exaggerated.1 This development, however, was at the cost of popular education with the result that literacy in India had gone down to five per cent in 1905.2

As a result of this, the progress of literacy in India was painfully slow. Even the rapid expansion of primary education afkr independence has not speeded up literacy as fast as the school system. Illiteracy thus resulting from the neglect of popular education had posed the largest social problem to the growth of public libraries in the country.

However, the government had adopted a policy whereby the higher classes of Indians were given educational opportunities. This was the class in which Macaulay wanted to imbue the English spirit, which policy, according to Makin, was designed to pass the education thus received to the masses.3 Whatever may be the reason, this policy resulted in the spread of English education in the country and the cultivation of the cult of books and libraries with its roots in British history. The educational developments in India closely followed the English system of education in England, but there was still a distinct time lag between what was happen- ing in England and what was actually being introduced in India. This was equally true of the library situation. Rather, the time lag, in the case of libraries, was understandably longer.

According to the UNESCO Regional Seminar on the Development of University Libraries in Latin America, held at Mendoza, Argentina, 24 September to 5 October, 1962, “the level of a country’s development depends largely on the performance of universities; and universities will

1 Makin, Ibid., p. 22. 8 N. C. Chakravarty (1962). Library Mouement in India: An Introductory Essay. Delhi: Hmdu-

sthan Publishing Corporation, p. 2. 3 Makin, The background to the problem oflibrary provision in India, p. 14.


be as good as their libraries.“1 But as pointed out earlier, the first universities in India were established without libraries. The colleges where all the teaching was done were subject to a system “where one cannot expect the library to play any important role. . . .s The Hunter Commission of 1882 said in its Report that libraries in the aided institutions were not con- siderable and that “the general reading of students is confined to the books which have some bearing on the subject of examinations.3 The Commis- sion recommended special grants to the libraries. This was the first official statement stressing the need for assistance to libraries attached to institutions of higher learning. The Report of the Universities Commission of 1902 had this to say:

Of the present University libraries, there is not much to be said. The library at Madras appears to be entirely neglected; Bombay has a good collection of oriental and other books; but the library is little used by graduates and hardly at all by students. Calcutta has a library and moneys have been granted for the purpose of making it supplementary to other libraries in Calcutta. It is open to Fellows and to persons permitted by the Syndicate to use it for the purpose of literary research. The Allahabad University has no library. Lahore has not a very large library.4

The Commission, ‘because of the slender financial resources, rejected the idea of forming a vast collection of books such as the universities of Europe and America now, possess. 5 The Commission instead recommended formation of good “reference libraries” in universities and colleges. The Commission also recommended accessibility of students to a library as one of the prerequisite conditions for the grant of university affiliation to a college. The India Universities Act of 1904, following the Commission’s Report, empowered universities to require, of colleges, applying for affiliation, maintenance of a library and lending of appropri- ate books (not textbooks) for the use of pupils.

Despite these developments, the government Report reviewing the progress of education in India during 19 12-l 7 deplored the library situation in these words :

The importance of libraries as factors in the education both of the pupil and adult is apt to be overlooked when set textbooks and exminations dominate the curricu- lum. . . . College libraries vary enormously as do colleges themselves. Not many are possessed of large or up-toldate collections. An important college like that at Patna, though possessing a good library, receives an annual grant of Rs. 1000 for its

1 Regional seminar on the development of university libraries in Latin America, UjV,YS’CG Bull. Libr., XVII Supplement (March-April, 19639, 123-24.

s Pamil Chandra Bose (1965). School and College Libraries in the Evolution of Education in Modern India. Calcutta Rev. 74.

3 Quoted in Ibid. * Quoted in Ibid. 5 Ibid., p. 75.

32 A. KHURSHID

upkeep and the principal naturally complains of inadequacy, School libraries are often deplorable and one of the Bengal inspectors states that they are composed of second-hand books to judge from their miscellaneous titles might have been bought and presentation copies of inferior textbooks. In the libraries he examined this inspector discovered “Gunshot Sounds: T~L& Treatment”, “Oriental Crime”, “History of the Idea of Devil and Witchcraft in All Countries”, and “When to Drink”. . . . There is no doubt that many such libraries are full, if not of trash at least of books which do not make interesting and suitable reading for schoolboys.1 [Italics supplied.]

In this situation, the Calcutta Commission (1917-19) Report had something of greater significance to offer to the development of academic libraries. Although the Commission as its name implies, was concerned only with the Calcutta University its recommendations were based on the analysis of the total academic scene in India and as such were applicable to any institution in the country.2 Quoting Dr Hiralal Haldar, a teacher at the Presidency College of Calcutta, the Calcutta Commission said :

. * . the true university, says Carlyle . . . is a library of books . . . but . . . one of the greatest weaknesses of the existing system is the extraordinary unimpor- tant part in it which is played by the library. Even the best, that of the Presidency College is very defective. There is not a single library in Calcutta, says Dr Hiralal Haldar, where all the well known works on philosophy are available; there is not one decent shop where you could buy a standard work on philosophy. . . . When I advise students to read particular books, they often ask me where they could get them and all I can do is to scratch my head. . . . !3

This was then the situation in Calcutta where, compared to other parts of India, libraries abounded. The Commission narrating its own experience said :

In one college the principal received us in the LIBRARY. We sat on the only 8 chairs the room contained, the books in a few dilapidated ahnirahs surrounded us. While the principal discussed upon the iniquity of presenting Romeo andJuliet to the pure and innocent boys, whom he taught, one of our members caught sight of the title of a book on one of the shelves. It was More Gal’s Gossip by Pitcher of the Sport- ing Times. It stood between a stray volume of Hodge’s systematic theology and a novel by Mr W. Le Queux.4 [Italics supplied.)

In view of the appalling situation of libraries brought to their notice, the Commission emphasized that :

It is therefore not only right and proper, but it is indispensible for the right conduct of its ordinary teaching work, that the University should provide reasonable facilities for independent work, and should expect its teachers to take advantage ofthem.

1 Progress of education in India, 1912-17. Seventh Quinquennial Review, 38, (1919), Comdt. No. 256, p. 28.

2 Ibid., p. 75. s 0. P. Sharma (1964). History of the development of the University libraries in India-

an appraisal. Indian Libr. 19,132. 4 Ibid., p. 132 footnote.


It is right and proper that the University should provide great libraries and great laboratories of research, with great scholars to direct them.1

Yet, at another place it observed that:

Though every college ought to possess a good working library, no college can afford to maintain a library capable of meeting all the needs of its teachers and students. To maintain such a library, on the amplest possible scale, and to make it useful as it can be to all teachers and serious students, must therefore be one of the most important functions of the University. And the university librarian ought to be a functionary of great importance, ranking with university professors, and having a place in the supreme academic body of the university. Besides controlling his own library, the librarian might well perform other useful functions as well; such as that ofgiving advice to college librarians in regard to the selection and cataloguing of books, with a view to the prevention of needless waste by overlapping especially in the provision of expensive periodicals.2

The Commission recommended that a sum of Rs. 2,000,OOO should be provided for initial expenses on books and an annual grant of Rs. 50,000 for the purchase and binding of books.3 The Commission was equally con- scious of the librarian’s role. Thus for the first time a statement was made in an official document about his duties, status and even salary. Speaking of the librarian for the proposed unitary teaching university of Dacca which was to serve as a model for the future universities in India, the Com- mission said :

The university should have the services of a librarian who should be a man or woman [in a note the Commission remarked: “In recent years a large number of capable women have devoted themselves to the systematic study of librarianship and it would probably be easier after the War to secure a competent woman than a competent man for this post.“] of culture skilled in the art of cataloguing and mana- ging a library. Library organization has been greatly developed of recent years, as the disadvantage of the unskilled management of large and growing libraries have become apparent. The librarian would be in charge of the central library of the university and also, to an extent to be determined by experience, of the departmen- tallibraries. . . . The persons in charge of the libraries of halls and hostels should also be able to avail themselves of the advice and experience of the university librarian, though he should not be expected to be responsible for the details of their management. We think that a salary equal to that of a readerashould be offered to the librarian.5

1 Calcutta University Commission, 1917-19. Report . . . (London: HMSO, IV, Part II, 1919), 279-80.

2 Ibid., p. 284. 3 Bima Kumar Datta (1966). University libraries of e&em India. Libr. Her& 9, 108. 4 A reader, according to the Commission, was required to be a teacher of approximately

the same standing as a professor, capable of acting as a head of a department. The title of reader was not to be conferred in respect of any post carrying a salary of less than Rs. 400 p.m. ; the salary of a reader could as well rise to Rs. 600 p.m. (See Calcutta University Commission. Report, IV, Part II, p. 173).

5 Calcutta University Commission, Report, IV, Part II, 2 13-14.

34 A. KHURSHID

The Librarian of the University of Calcutta, according to the Commis- sion’s recommendation, was placed even a higher status and salary than those prescribed for the Dacca University librarian. He had the salary and status of the university professor with ex o$%io membership on the Academic Council.1 The salary of a professor according to their recommendation was between Rs. 750 to Rs. 1000 p.m.2

The Commission even discussed the constitution and functions of the Library Committee of the University of Calcutta. “The Library Com- mittee”, according to the Commission, “should be appointed by and report to the Academic Council. Its duties should not be limited to the administration of the University Library. It should also aim at securing organized cooperation with the Imperial Library and other public libraries in Calcutta; it should supply advice and guidance to college libraries, both in Calcutta and the mufassal, and endeavor to prevent needless duplication or overlapping. In order that it may be able to secure these ends, it should, if possible, include the Librarian of the Imperial Library, and perhaps other Calcutta librarians; and it should further include college teachers specially interested in library work.3

In this background among the first universities, the Calcutta Univer- sity alone did contemplate the establishment of a library. Its custodian- ship, whenever it was created, was to rest with the Registrar of the Univer- sity.4 It was only in 1862 that the new building, the design of which was proposed by the Syndicate included quarters for the Library. In 1869, Joy Kishen Mukherjee of Uttarpara donated a sum of Rs. 5000 for the proposed library; to this donation was added, the same year, a gift of books by Ishan Chandra Boge.5 But shortage of accommodation delayed its creation until 1873 when the Senate for the first time appropriated a sum of Rs. 6000 for the purchase of books and appointed a Committee to prepare a list of books for this purpose. In 1908, another donation of Rs. 250,000 was received from Maharajah of Dharbanga, this time for the construction of a building to house the Library.6 The Library thus moved to its new quarters in 1912.

The Bombay University Library also owes its existence to a donation of Rs. 200,000 in 1864 from a Merchant Prince of Bombay, Premehand Roychand.7 He wanted the building to be an ornament to the City of

1 Ibid., p. 383. 2 Ibid., p. 290. 3 Ibid., p. 417. 4 Mani Subramanyan (1967). History and development of university libraries in Indii

(unpublished FLA thesis, Library Association, London), p. 49. 5 Datta, University libraries of eastern India, pp. 107-8. s Subramanyan, History and development of university libraries in India, p. 49. 7 Sharma, History of the development of the university libraries in India, p. 130.


Bombay. He made another donation of Rs. 2,000,000, further supplemented by Srimati Rajabai.1 The building was completed in 1878 but it was only in 1879 that the library was opened with a modest collection of books, presented to the University in 1864 by the Government of India.

The Madras University, on the other hand, did not have a library for nearly half a century after its founding. It was in 1897 that a bequest of &2000 was made by the late Mr Griffith for library purposes, followed by a grant of ,(;400,000 made by the Government of India in 1911. These donations and an annual grant of E750 by the Government of Madras “led to the formation of a University Library in 1914”.2 The Panjab Uni- versity Library had its origin in 1873 when the University College acquired the 2000~volume collection of Sir Donald McLeod,a although the University did not come into being until 1908.4

It will be thus evident that while the first universities in India were founded by government appropriations their libraries were established through donations from local philanthropists, with the result that library development was subject to “uncertain windfalls of benevolence of chari- tably disposed benefactors”.5 The Hartog Committee (1929)6 making note ofthis situation said “No object could be more worthy ofthe generous benefactor than the endowment of university libraries in such a way that they may be able to supply the proper foundations for higher work in the departments in which teaching and research are carried on and being kept up to date.“’

The emphasis laid down by the Calcutta University Commission on the professional training of a university librarian, although with an accent on catalog&g, was timely. Even before the Commission, the first university librarian was sent to the United Kingdom in 1913 for formal training in librarianship.* As early as 1897 Swami Brahma Nath Sidhasram”s name is listed under the list of Fellows of the Library Association, London.9 In

1 Subramanyan, History and development ofuniversity libraries in India, p. 67. s S. R. Rangnathan (1936). Madras University Library: genesis, growth, future, Libr.

Assoc. Rec. 59,12. s Sant Ram Bhatia (1936). History of libraries and the library movement in the Punjab.

Mod. Libr. 6,87. 4 Asa Don Dickinson (1916). Panjab Library Primer (Lahore: University of the Panjab),

p. 221. 5 Bose, School and college libraries in the evolution of education in modern India, p. 77. s A Royal Commission on Constitutional Reforms in India was appointed early in 1927.

Under its terms of references, the Commission appointed an Auxiliary Committee to review the growth of education. The Committee was chaired by Sir Philip Hartog, who had served for several years in India as a member of the Calcutta University Commission and as the Vice- Chancellor of the Dacca University.

7 Bose, School and college libraries in the evolution of education in modern India, p. 77. 8 N. C. Chakravarty (1966). Educationfor Librariumhip--A Survey. Calcutta: IASLIC, p. 30. g Libr. Assoc. Tb. (1914). L. Stanley Jast (ed.). London: The Association, p. 132.

36 A. KHURSHID

1911 two members of the then Imperial Library (Kiran Nath Dhar and C. K. Gosh) reportedly qualified in the Library Association’s examination.1 By 1915, India had already the traces of a galaxy of distinguished librarians on its library horizon. As already pointed out, John MacFar- lane of the British Museum directed the Imperial Library during the years 1903-6. In 1910 William Alanson Borden was invited by Mahara- jah Gaekwad to establish and direct the first free public library system in Baroda State. Before taking up this new assignment in India, Borden was Librarian of the Young Men’s Institute at New Haven (1887-1910). He began his library career in 1883 at Boston Athenaeum and thus received his training under the guidance of Charles A. Cutter, who was then the librarian of the Athenaeum until 1893.2 Another American librarian to have a library assignment in Lahore was Asa Don Dickinson who was trained under Melvil Dewey at Albany (1902-3). He was commissioned in 1915 to organize the Panjab University Library. Starting his library career at the Brooklyn Public Library, Dickinson was Librarian of Union College in 1906 and of the Leavenworth (Kansas) Free Public Library in 1907 and of Washington State College in 19 10. Before going to India he served on the editorial staff of Doubleday, Page and Company. He is famous for his Best Books Series.3

Following the Calcutta Commission’s recommendation the universities of Madras and Calcutta also appointed professional librarians to head their libraries which in one form or the other had already beenin existence before these appointments. In 1924 S. R. Ranganathan (1892- ), then a Lecturer in Mathematics at the Presidency College, Madras, was selected for the stewardship of the Madras University Library and sent to the University College, London for his professional training in librarianship.4 Thus Madras University Library had the distinction from its early development stage of having the guidance of one of the outstanding library geniuses of this age. The University of Calcutta, like its action in imple- menting the Calcutta Commission’s recommendations, lagged behind other universities in appointing a professional librarian as the head of its library. In 1937 the eminent scholar and political leader, Nihar Ranjan

1 Libr. Wld. 13, (191 l), 90-92. 2 Who Was Who in America. Chicago: A. N. Marquis, 1947. I (1897-1947), 117. There are

varying versions of Borden’s professional career. According to John T. Reid, Bridges of Under- standing (Calcutta: USIS, n.d., p. 32) Borden was Melvil Dewey’s pupil and also taught at Columbia School of Library Service. However, neither Melvil Dewey’s Papers at Columbia nor Sarah Vann’s Training for Librarians Before 1923. . . . (Chicago: ALA, 1961) support this account.

3 Based on Librarian authors: Asa Don Dickinson (1931). Libr. J. 56,703. 4 P. N. Kaula (1962). A new era of library science; study of Dr Ranganathan’s life. Pakistan

L&r. Reu. 4, 10.


Ray, was appointed librarian after his training in librarianship in the University College, London.1

The library movement once started in the presidency towns of India finally found its way to the vast hinterland of the country during the last two decades of the nineteenth century.2 By the close of the century, all the provincial capitals and even most of the district towns of the presidencies of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras had their public libraries.

Although founded in the imitation of their Western counterparts, these public libraries were not free and their use was “confined to a thin upper layer of the Society”.3

Lending of books in such a library was very low. Books were not allowed even to be removed from the shelves by visitors; the librarian being required to procure them. A typical example of such a library was the Alla- habad Public Museum and Library which according to the Report of the Secretary to the Public Museum and Library Committee for 1871-was “on a footing worthy of a Provincial Library and yet possessed upwards of 7000 volumes, most of them works of the greatest value, and some of them exceedingly rare”. But only 1450 books were taken out during that year; only two volumes were mislaid since the library was opened to the public some four or five years before. Its catalogue was very carefully prepared by the Secretary in his leisure time.4

In 1867 the Government of India Press and Registration of Books Act was enforced which required of the printer of a book to deposit one or more copies with the State Government and the State Government in re- turn was to publish quarterly a Catalogue ofBooks but full use of this provision does not seem to have been made.5

In 1884 in the areas now constituting Pakistan, three public libraries were established. They were the Punjab Public Library, Lahore; the Sandeman Library, Quetta; and the Rajshahi Public Library, Rajshahi. Of these the Punjab Public Library played an important role for quite some time although it lost its potential force after independence.

The Punjab Public Library had its origin in 1884 but was opened to the public on 31 December, 1885.6 From the proceedings of the Lieutenant Governor, dated 8 November, 18847 it appears that the proposal to estab-

1 Mukherjee, Librarianship, p. 147. 2 India, Ministry of Education, Report of Adtiory Committeefor Libraries, p. 1. 3 Ibid. 4 Based on Public Library and Museum at Allahabad, Report on the progress. . . . during

the year 1865, p. 69; also Report for 1871-72, in Selectionsfrom the Records of Government, vol. II, no. 44 (1866), pp. 69,11&17.

5 India, Ministry of Education, Report of Advisory Committeefor Libraries, p. 2. 6 Saghir Ahmad Farooqui (1962). The Punjab public library (unpublished Master’s term

paper, Department of Library Science, University of Karachi), p. 2. 7 Punjab Gazette, (November, 1884), 1111.

38 A. KHURSHID

lish a “Central Library of Reference” at Lahore was already under consideration for some time. The resolution1 reported in the proceedings says “The Lieutenant-Governor (Sir Charles Atchison) is anxious to establish at Lahore a Public Library of Reference which will be opened to all classes of the community. The Library would include official publications as well as general literature, both oriental and other kinds. The idea is not merely to combine in one place portions of departmental libraries not required for immediate reference by the several departments of Govern- ment, but to found an institution of a thoroughly public character which shall be of benefit to the Province at large.” The resolution further says: “The Library should be open to the public without charge, subject only to such guarantees for responsibility of the persons using it as the Com- mitteea may recommend. Persons who wish to take books out of the library may be required to subscribe, the subscription so collected being utilized for the maintenance and office establishment of the place and for the purchase of new books from time to time. Individuals, departments and institutions, whether at Lahore or in any other part of the Province will be invited to subscribe books to form the nucleus of the Library. Arrangements will be made for the selection of books out of those which may be offered, in the first instance by the Committee, and subsequently by a Librarian and a standing Committee at Lahore.”

As enjoined in the above resolution, a nucleus collection was formed out of the transfer of books from the government departments, to which seventy-five volumes were donated by the Lieutenant-Governor himself.a Other government officials also contributed to this collection. The rules of the Library as published in the Punjab Gazette of 2 October, 18904 increased the number of the Punjab Public Library Committee to 14. The Deputy Commissioner of Lahore and the Director of Public Instruction were to serve as ex o#cio members. Other members included nominees of various institutions, e.g. the University of the Panjab, the Municipality, Lahore. The life members were required to nominate their own repres- entatives. There were other nominees from the government who also were empowered to appoint the President.

In 1896 a Special Committee was appointed by the then Lieutenant- Governor, Sir Dennis Fitzpatrick, with C. L. Tupper as its Chairman, to

1 Ibid. s The Committee appointed to consider the proposal for the establishment of this Library

consisted of Lieut-Colonel E. G. Wace, Financial Commissioner, Punjab (Chairman) ; D. C. J. Ibbetson, Director of Public Instruction, Punjab; E. W. Parker, District Judge, Lahore; S. Wheeler, Editor, Civiland Mi6ital-y Gazette (Daily newspaper), Lahore; Pandit Ram Narain, Pleader; J. Kipling; and C. L. Tupper, Secretary to the Government of the Punjab. Ibid., p. 1.

3 Farooqui, The Punjab Public Library, p. 2. * Punjab fkette, (2 October, 1890), p. 1323.


enquire into the income, expenditure and other matters connected with the Library. In accordance with the Special Committee’s recommendations, the Punjab Public Library Committee in its meeting held 12 Sep- tember, 1896, decided that.1

(1) The Lahore Municipal Committee should be asked to increase its annual subscription;

(2) The District Boards of all districts from which there are 30 or more students studying in the Lahore College, should be asked to subscribe to the Library;

(3) Branch Libraries should be established and the District Boards asked to assist with donations to de&ay the cost of establishing such libraries;

(4) A prospectus should be published in the Punjab Gazette.

The first All-India Conference of Librarians sponsored by the Govern- ment of India (Lahore, 4-8 January, 1918) recommended “to divide India into a number of circles within which facilities should be adopted for the circulation of books and periodicals, and that an equal number of distributing centres be formed, each centre being used as a bureau of information and a borrowing agency for its own circle and also for inter- circle purposes.“2 For Northwest India, the centre was proposed to be at Lahore, Consequently in consultation with the Government of India, the Punjab Public Library in 1929 assumed the function of a central library in Northwest India comprising the Punjab, the Princely States located in or near the Punjab and the North West Frontier Province.3 A circular was sent to forty libraries in the circle excluding only those libraries which did not possess more than 500 books and those which had only books on fiction. Thirty libraries joined the circle but due to the shortage of funds, this circle did not last long.4

The second phase of the library development in India which symbolic- ally began with the opening of the Calcutta Library to the public in 1900 received further impetus with the “realization of the dream” of the Pun- jab Public Library to act as the central library for district and municipal libraries in the province.5 But the pride ofthis second phase was the library development in the princely state of Baroda. Making a comparison of British India and the princely states, William Alanson Borden, thus says, “outside of the native states of Baroda and Indore, there are no free public libraries in India. There are libraries, of course, but no free libraries

1 Punjab Gazette, part III (5 November, 1896), p. 2032. s All-Indiaconference oflibrarians, Lahore,4-8 January 1918, Proceedings.. . . Simla: Govt.

Monotype Press (1918), pp. 34. s Ram Labhaya (1933). The Punjab Central Library scheme: an attempt towards its

realization. Mod. Libr. 3,161. 4 India, Ministry of Education, Aduisoly Committeefw Libraries, Report, p, 2. 6 Sant Ram Bhatia (1936). History of libraries and the library movement in the Punjab.

Mod. Libr. 6,88.

40 A. KHURSHID

supported by public funds. . . . There are . . . libraries of fair size at Madras, Benaras, Allahabad, and other large cities, but the whole library movement in India has as yet only reached the stage where it appeals to scholars.”

In British India, which is that part under the direct rule of the British Government, as distinguished from the native states which are governed by the native princes and only indirectly controlled by England . . . the library for the use and instruction of the common people is practically unknown. In the establishment of what we know as the free public library movement, as well as in the movement for the education ofthe common people, these native states are far in advance of the rest of India, and foremost among these is the State of Baroda.1

The free public library movement referred to by Borden had its origin in 1906 when M. N. Amin, a schoolmaster began organizing societies for town and village libraries in Baroda and the adjoining part of British India ,(Gujrat).s His Highness the Maharajah Sayajirao Gaekwad III (1862-1939), f re erred to as the “Carnegie of India”,3 who had already been considering some sort offinancial assistance to village libraries, sanc- tioned grants-in-aid to the libraries organized by M. N. Amin. In fact on an experimental basis a practically free circulating library was already established in 1903.4 The library movement in Baroda was part of a larger and carefully drawn programme of mass education; in 1893 compulsory education was introduced in one district and gradually it was extended to other parts ofthe State.5 It was to support this mass education programme that the Maharajah realized the importance of a free public library system. It was in 1906, during his visit to the United States, that the Mahara- jah apparently was so much impressed by the public library system there that he sent a cablegram “followed by a detailed order that circulating libraries should be established in each Taluka [italics supplied] . . . so that people in villages also may have opportunities to read books, periodicals and newspapers.“s A decisive step was taken by the Maharajah again in the United States when in 1910 on his sojourn to that country he selected William Alanson Borden then Librarian of the Young Men’s Institute, New Haven, to head the proposed system offree public libraries in Baroda. Borden spent three years in Baroda and organized a central library and a comprehensive network of free public libraries in the State.

1 William Alanson Borden (1913). Baroda, India and its libraries. Libr. J. 38,659. * Newton Mohun Dutt (1929). The development of the library movement in India, in

The Librarians’ Guide (Library Year Books Groups), 1929-30, ed. Geoffrey R. Axon. Liverpool: The Library Year Books Press, p. 167.

s N. G. Gbakravarty (1967). Lest we forget: pioneers who are no more. ILA BUZZ. 3,98. 4 Janardas S. Kudalkar (1919). TheBaroda Library Movement.Baroda: CentralLibrary, p. 43. 5 Ibid. 6 Kudalkar, The Baroda Library Movement, p. 43.


By 1941, slightly over 83% of the State’s population was covered by this system; the number ofreaders then was l,lOO,OOO (out of a population of 2,800,000, i.e. 39% of the total population); the total books were 1,900,OOO; and those in circulation were 1,000,OOO.r Table 1 below, show- ing the statistics of expenditure for 1907-8 and 1941-2, will indicate the growth of the system even after the departure of Borden in 19 13.

TABLE 1

Statistics of expenditures Baroda public libraries 1907-8 and 1941-2

Exjwnditure in rupees Year Year

1907-08 1941-42

Government contribution to - Central Library

Government grant to village 10,991 Libraries

People’s contributions 2525 Grant from Local Boards 1511

Total: 15,027

42,868

41,455

49,474 42,492

176,289

Source: Nurullah and Naik, A Histov of Education in India, p. 908, Appendix.

The Central Library was established on the model of the urban public libraries of England and the United States and at the same time it also served the purpose of a national library in regard to publications in Gujrati and Marathi.2 The system of libraries, with the central library at its apex, was elaborately drawn to include provision for children’s services and separate reading rooms for ladies. The travelling libraries consisted of boxes of books which were sent out from Baroda to branch libraries and to other places where library facilities were non-existent.

Borden not only devised this system (which in 1941 consisted of four district libraries, 42 town libraries, 1351 village libraries, and 300 travelling libraries)” but also started a training class; devised a new scheme of classification combining the Dewey Decimal and the Expansive Classifi- cation of Charles Cutter to suit the needs of the Indian libraries;4 organized a Librarian’s Club; and started a library journal. The Baroda Lib- rary Club and its organ Library Miscellany (published quarterly in three

1 Nurullah and Naik, A History of Education in India, p. 908, appendix. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid., p. 905. 4 Kudalkar, The Baroda Library Movement, p. 10.

42 A. KHURSHID

languages between 1912 and 1919) did excellent and valuable work in carrying forward the message of a free public library. Library Miscellany, according to Borden himself, was planned to become the Library Journal of India.1 Although this publication was short-lived, Library Miscellany did spread the message of Baroda libraries far and wide. Burma, Mysore and many other states showed interest in the system and some even tried to develop travelling libraries on the Baroda pattern.2

But for the Maharajah the Baroda libraries and, for that matter, the public library movement in India would have taken a different direction. His name will always be remembered in the history of libraries in India. His contributions were equally acknowledged in the West. In America he was honoured by the New York Library Association by conferring on him the honorary membership of the Association.3 The Library Association, London, also honoured him by inviting him to a dinner where E. Salter Davies, then President of the Association, eulogized his services for the cause of library development. Speaking at the same occasion W. C. Ber- wick Sayers is reported to have said, “It was a great honour to be present at table with one who was not only a lover oflibraries but an inspired ruler who had initiated in his state a far-reaching system of libraries, and the seeds which His Highness had sown in Baroda were bearing fruit all over India.“*

An interesting comparison of the system developed by Borden was published in the Library Miscellany which is reproduced below. (It may, however, be remembered that compared to the Baroda State, the New York State is quite large both in size and population, and is immensely rich.) This information is based on the statistics of 19 12 :s

NEW YORK STATE

(1) Gives to each free library obser- ving Regents requirements, an annual grant of $100 for the purchase of books on condition that an equal amount is applied from local sources for the same object.

BARODA STATE

( 1) Gives to each town or village library every year for the purchase of books, papers, etc., twice the amount (half of which comes from the Panchayets raised by the Library Committee on behalf of the people, on condition that the free use of the library is given to all people, without distinction of caste, creed or race).

1 William Alanson Borden (1912). Library situation in India. Libr. Misc. B, 1,2. 2 Dutt, The development of the library movement in India, p. 167; Borden, Baroda, India

and its libraries, p. 659. 3 Kudalkar, ‘The Baroda Library Movement, plate 2. 4 Mod. Libr. V, 155-57. 5 What N.Y. State does for libraries & what Baroda State does (1913). Libr. Misc. 3,97-99.


(2) Incorporates with provisional chap- ter libraries having property to the value of $100, and grants an abso- lute charter where property worth $100 is held. No fee is charged for incorporation.

(3) Exempts from taxation all proper- ties of libraries used for public library purposes.

(4) Sends travellmg libraries to schools, clubs, . . . or communities, also to local libraries to supplement their collections.

(5) Lends pictures and lantern slides to any library, which exhibits them to the public without charge.

(6) Maintains an advanced school for the instruction and training of librarians and a summer school for elementary training, also co-operates with the State Library Association in the conduct of Library institutes and round tables.

(7) Assists in the selection of books (a) by passing judgement on lists sent in for approval by individual libraries, (b) by printing annually a carefully selected list of 250 best books of the previous year, (c) by sending to registered libraries gratuitously the A.L.A. Book List, (d) by notes and suggestions in the Qgurterly Bulletin, (e) by the publication of numerous bibliographies on various subjects of interest and, (f) by advice given on personal visits.

(8) Aids local libraries in reference work by sending from the State Library information or material on request.

(9) Gives advice and assistance in planning library buildings and furnishes to library boards materials on the subject.

(2) -

(3) -

(4) Sends travelling libraries to schools, clubs, or communities.

(5) Sends men from the Central Lib- rary to give free Cinematograph and magic lantern exhibitions to different communities, and lends stereoscopes and stereographs to schools, clubs, and female circles.

(6) Maintained a school for training people in librarianship for one year at its own cost, allowing scholar- ships of Rs. 25 per mensem, and is ready to maintain a Library School if a sufficient number of volunteers come forward.

(7) Assists in the selection of books (a) by passing judgement on lists sent in for approval by individual libraries, (b) by printing a carefully selected list ofvernacular books, (c) by sending to registered libraries and other gratuitously Bulletin of .New Books published every month or earlier, (d) by notes and suggestions in the Library Miscellany, (e) by the publication of special lists of books on different subjects and, (f) by advice given on personal visits.

(8) Is ready to give such aid to local and moffusil libraries.

(9) Gives advice and assistance in planning library building to library committees.

44 A. KHURSHID

(10) Provides free of cost the services of an expert in library law in interpreting and applying the law of the State to local conditions.

(11) Provides for annual visits to libraries from a trained and experienced librarian for the purpose of giving advice and counsel in all matters of Library economy.

(12) To free libraries, just organizing or to those needing reorganization, provides free of cost the services of an expert library-organizer for a period not exceeding two weeks.

(13) Publishes a quarterly bulletin for the purpose of disseminating library news and promoting sound ideas in library economy.

(10) Provides free of cost information in interpreting and applying the law of the State to local conditions.

(11) Provides for periodical visits to libraries from a trained and experienced librarian for the purpose of giving advice and counsel in all matter of library facilities.

(12) To free libraries just organizing provides free of cost books published by the Baroda Government; is about to open a class for library training for district librarians.

(13) Patronizes a quarterly magazine called Library Miscellany, edited and published by its own officers trained in Library work for the purpose of disseminating library news and promoting sound ideas in library economy.

With the merger of the Baroda State with the former Bombay State in the post-independence India (Baroda is now part of the Gujrat State), the Central Library at Baroda has ceased to be the chief library of the State and as such “has declined in importance as well as in the magnitude ofits service”.l Since Baroda is no longer part of the Bombay State (now the Maharashtra State), the new Public Libraries Act for Maharashtra passed in July 1967 by the State Legislature would not bring back to it its own system which apparently influenced the passage of the Public Lib- raries Act.

However, the development in Baroda had its far reaching impact on the library situation elsewhere in India, The Librarian’s Club originally comprising librarians of the Baroda libraries had its echo in Punjab where Asa Don Dickinson in 1915 founded the Punjab Library Association. It was an American missionary, Dr J. C. R. Ewing, the then Vice-Chancel- lor of the University of the Punjab who was responsible for inviting a fellow American, Dickinson, to organize the university library and to teach modern library methods to the librarians of the Punjab.2 Dickinson seem- ed to be uneasy over this appointment as would appear from this remark, “Would His Majesty wish me to come and teach library science to his rebellious subjects ?” His friends had sent him newspaper accounts of reported insurrection ofthe native Indians against the British Raj amid the

1 India, Ministry of Education, Aduisory Committeefor Libraries, Rejort, p. 10. s Asa Don Dickinson (1969). [Memoirs] Typewritten manuscript, p. 290.


blackened ruins of his empire. 1 Yet another point of uneasiness was the English setting in which he was to work. He writes, “library facilities on the Mongolia P & 0 Steamer were not very admirable. Indeed, until a short time ago a rather large fee was charged to every passenger for the privilege of using the meagre Officers’ library, which was kept tightly locked up during the greater part of the day. This was our first hint of what we were later to recognize as the characteristic attitude of English- men toward books, as something to be respected and carefully safeguard- ed against casual contact with the common herd. The first thing one knows the books will be soiled or worn out! My word!“2 Even the then Registrar, A. C. Woolner, had some misgiving about an American Lib- rarian coming to India as would appear from what Dickinson says. “Dr Ewing was out of town on the day I called to report for duty, so I sought out his next in command, Dr A. C. Woolner, who was Registrar. This was a happy accident, for Professor Woolner, every inch a Briton, had for once harbored misgivings of Dr Ewings’ good judgement in calling a fellow- American to help them put their libraries in order.“3

As has been true elsewhere, so is it in India that library development received its present status because of a concerted effort put out by the library associations in their respective settings. It has always been easier to establish local associations in India than to organize a national association. The library development in India, as is evident from the proceeding discussion has been so uneven that only one centre, because of the library activities in the area, could emerge as a mecca for librarians of the country, After Baroda, Lahore became the mecca oflibrarians with the coming of Dickinson. As a result, the Punjab Library Association was founded and the second Indian publication4 on library science was published from Lahore. The publication was The Punjab Library PGmer ( 19 16)) by Dickin- son. Although the Association founded by Dickinson was short-lived, its impact is discernible from the developments that led to the formation of a Librarians’ Club in 1929 to shoulder the task of organizing the seventh All-India Public Library Conference held at Lahore in December 1929.5 The Punjab Library Association was not only revived as a result of this Conference but also a quarterly journal, Modern Librarian, as its organ was inaugurated in 1930. This journal continued until 1947 when it ceased publication because of the partition of the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent.

1 Asa Don Dickinson (1916). On His Majesty’s Service Only. Pub. Libr. 21,132. a Ibid., p. 133-34. 3 Dickinson, [Memoirs], pp. 290-9 1. 4 The first publication was Hints on Library Administration in India by B. H. Mehta (Surat,

1913). See L. G. Parab, Library literature in India, in Library Movement in India, P. N. Kaula (ed.), p. 21.

5 Bhatia, The Library movement in the Punjab, p. 94.

46 A. RHURSHID

Even before the Punjab Library Association of Dickinson’s time was founded, another association called the Andhra Desa Librarians Associa- tion had come into existence (1914) through the efforts of Venkatara- simha Sastry and Iyyanki Venkataramanayya who were impressed by the Maharajah of Baroda’s statewise library services and wanted to establish popular libraries in the Andhra Desa through this Association.1 It secured government grants for libraries and created a popular movement only next in importance to Baroda.2 It has been publishing a monthly journal in Telgu since 1916 called Granthalaya Sarwswamu.

In 1920 the first national association called the All-India Public Lib- raries Association began its spasmodic existence. It does not exist now but during its short span of life, it held annual conferences as an auxiliary feature of the annual sessions of the India National Congress. These conferences were held at Madras ( 19 19) ; Cocanada ( 1923) ; Belgaum ( 1924) ; Cawnpore (1925); Madras (1927) ; Calcutta (1928) ; Lahore (1929) ; Bezwada (1930) ; and Madras (1934). The Association, according to D. B. Krishna Rao, “sprouted with the Indian National Congress” in the fear of government domination, created by the presence of non-librarian government officials at the first library conference sponsored by the Gov- ernment of India (1918).s The Association started publishing the Indian Library Journal in 1924 which continued irregularly until 1936. The Asso- ciation in its first conference expressed the desirability of forming an All- India Library Association but it could not succeed in this direction. How- ever, its conferences created a climate which led to the establishment of local library associations,4 amongst them were the Bengal Library Associ- ation (1925) ; the Madras Library Association (1928) ; and the Punjab Library Association (1929). It was through the efforts of the Punjab Lib- rary Association with other prominent librarians of the country including K. M. Asadullah that the Indian Library Association was formed in 1933. Asadullah, a pupil of Dickinson, and the Librarian of the Imperial Lib- rary, Calcutta, was elected its secretary, which post he held until 1947 when he was transferred to Pakistan on an option of service. It was through his efforts and his other colleagues of the Dickinson class that yet another Association called the Government of India Libraries Association was formed in 1933 at Simla. Asadullah was widely known for his educational and social services. Born in Lahore, Asadullah became the first graduate librarian of the famous Government College Library ( 19 13). In

1 M. A. Gopinath (1967). Library profession and its evolution. Library Sciences with a Slant on Documentation 4,266.

2 Chakravarty, Library Movement in India, p. 8. 8 D. B. Krishna Rae, Library movement in Madras in Library movement in India, P. N. Kaula,

p. 81. 4 Chakravarty, (ed.), Library Movement in In&, p. 9.


19 19 his services were requisitioned to organize the M.A.O. College Lib- rary (now Aligarh Muslim University). In 1921 he was appointed the Librarian of the Secretariat Library of the Government of India from which post he was deputed to the Imperial Library, Calcutta. In 1929 he obtained the Diploma and the Fellowship of the Library Association, London. In recognition of his services to the library movement, the Gov- ernment of India conferred on him the title of Khan Bahadur in June, 1935. Asadullah was a dynamic library leader; started a library class at the Imperial Library in 1935; and took an active part in the Bengal Library Association and the Indian Library Association. He initiated the All-India Library Conference which has since become a regular feature. He was equally well-known and respected outside the library world as Trustee and Honorary Treasurer of the Indian Museum at Calcutta, Fel- low of the Calcutta University, Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, Member of the Council of All India Muslim Educational Con- ference, and Member of the Court of Aligarh Muslim University.1

The Indian Library Association through its annual conferences has been able to spread the library message throughout the country. From time to time it has published one or more periodicals and has also sponsored two series of books, one in Hindi and the other in English most of them written by Ranganathan. It currently publishes a quarterly journal, Indian Library Association Bulletin. Until 1944 its president used to be a non- librarian, but in 1944 Ranganathan was elected to this post. By that time he had already earned a high esteem both within and outside India for his dynamic leadership of the profession through his writings and his work in the Madras Library Association and the University of Madras Library. Of him, W. C. Berwick Sayers has said:

Each country in turn seems to produce a distinctive librarian who is the prototype of his profession. Edward Edwards and James DuffBrown in Great Britain, Dewey in America, Graesel in Germany, de Lisle in France, Paul Otlet in Belgium, are examples which come to mind without any thought of slighting their compatriot librarians. India would probably choose Shiyali Ramarita Ranganathan. . . , The University of Delhi . . . bestowed its doctorate upon him as “the father of librarianship in India” [the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Pittsburgh also conferred on him its honorary doctorate in 19641. The teacher in him was accompanied by an enthusiastic urge to write of his cxperi- ences, experiments and speculations; so much so that he set out apparently to re- write the whole literature of librarianship, first in terms of Indian necessities and to instil the library idea into countrymen not well aware of them, and gradually to promulgate his theories on a world basis; he became in consequence the world’s most prolific writer on these subject0

1 Based on biographical sketches in Mod. Libr. VII (October, 1936) ; 69-72; The Hindustan &ev., LXXXV (December, 1949), 510.

2 W. C. Berwick Sayers (1963). A Manual of Classification fm Librarians and Bibliographers, 3rd ed. London: Andre Deutseh), p. 204-5.

48 A. KHURSHID

J. H. Shera speaking of him says :

Disciplined in mathematics and trained in librarianship under the watchful eyes of Berwick Sayers, he brought to library problems a mind unequalled in its power, if indeed it has an equal, by only that of Henry E. Bliss. But whereas Bliss devoted his life almost entirely to the problems of classification, Ranganathan took all librarianship as his province. If there is any single individual who merits being called a “one-man library movement”, certainly his accomplishments in India have earned him that distinction.1

Ranganathan is a Librarian to his finger tips. True, like Andrew Caine- gie, he carries no libraries in his pocket; yet to the library world in India he is more than a Carnegie, for, not only has he given away his life’s earn- ings to the establishment of a Chair in Library Science at the University of Madras2 and the creation of a Sarada Ranganathan Endowment for Library Science ,s he breathed new life into the profession. In 1935 the British Government conferred on him the title of Rao Sahib; in 1956 the Government of India bestowed upon him the title of Padmashri. In 1957 the Library Association, London elected him Honorary Vice-President for life. He is now the National Research Professor in Library Science, the highest academic honour that India can offer to its research scholars. Amongst those holding this coveted professorship is the Nobel Prize Winner, C. V. Raman.

Such were the leaders to guide the destiny of librarianship in India at a time when India was moving ahead towards an independent sovereign status. The holding of library conferences to coincide with the place and date ofthe annual sessions ofthe Indian National Congress, had its impact on the political climate of the country. The third phase of the library movement therefore began in 1937 with the coming of the Congress ministries in power in many provinces. As a result village and travelling libraries were established in Assam, Bihar, Punjab, Cochin and some other provinces and states. In 1942 there were some 13,000 village libraries in India.4 The most significant development of this phase was the Re- port of the Library Development Committee (1939-40) for the Bombay province. This report which is popularly known as Fayzee Committee Report, recommended setting up one central and three regional libraries; 15 district libraries; 167 tuZuka or petu libraries and 100 libraries in the towns of the size of a taluka; 979 village libraries for a population of 2000 or more; 2696 libraries for a population of 1000 to 2000; and 17,753 lib-

1 J. H. Shera (1962), S. R. Ranganathan-One American view. Pakistan Libr. Reu. 4,6. 2 P. N. Kaula (1962). A new era oflibrary science: study of Dr Ranganatban’s life. Pakistan

Libr. Rev. 4,15. s Gopinath (1967). Library profession and its evolution. Library Science with a Slant on Docu-

mentation, 4,262. 4 India, Ministry of Education, Advisory Committee for Libraries, Report, p. 3.


raries for villages with a population below 1000.1 Since full implementation of this scheme entailed heavy expenses, the last four stages of the plan were implemented only partially.2

By the time India attained its independence, the library movement which began in the wake of the educational developments of the early nineteenth century, had grown into a force. The libraries which had begun to provide “public appeal” during Borden’s sojourn in India, had become forcefully pervasive at least in the Madras State, where the Mad- ras University Library and the Madras Library Association were engaged in an excellent promotional work. Speaking of the former, Ranganathan says :

The Madras University Library was a pioneer in India in the institution of such service [reference]. It was fortunate in its first reference librarian C. Sundaram who initiated a good tradition with his innate geniality and wide learning. Two million readers were served in the first twenty years. . . . The highlight . . . was the opportunity to service men of exceptional creative ability, such as the famous mathematician Ramanujan and the physicist Chandrasekharan. Many of the future ministers of the South Indian States had had the benefit of its service. When a Minister of Education took up library legislation, he said that it was to fulfil a resolve in the diary of his student days, while reading in the pleasant periodicals- room of the library. He had then recorded, “Every town in our country should have library service of this kind, as soon as it becomes independent”.3

Ranganathan had become an institution by himself. Rather, the present age itselfis named after him; W. C. Berwick Sayers calls this age as the Age of Ranganathan.4 His leadership, once confined to the Madras Lib- rary Association, had by 1947 begun to envigorate the activities of the Indian Library Association which over the years was preparing itself to shoulder the library responsibilities in a free India. The Association’s area of influence was greatly enlarged. The library movement, thus far limited to a few States, had grown out all over India. Independence brought with it a new life thereby broadening the size and scope of library activities in the country. This has resulted in the establishment of new associations. By 1968 all the States in India had their own library associations; even important cities have one. On the national scene too, quite a few library associations have emerged. Among them in chronological order are the Indian Association of Special Libraries and Information Centres (IASLIC) (1955) ; the Indian Academic Libraries Association (1961) ;

1 Ibid. 2 Ibid. 3 S. R. Ranganathan (1957). Madras University Library: genesis, growth, future. Libr.

Assoc. Rec., LIX, 14. 4 W. C. Berwick Sayers (1959). Thoughts on library classification in retrospect and prospect.

Libr. Wld. 60,2 10.

50 A. KHURSHID

the Association of Indian University Teachers of Library Science (i&p- tember, 1966),1 the Federation of Indian Library Associations (Decem- ber, 1966) .s Most of these associations publish their own library journals.3 Of the newly formed national associations, the IASLIC holds out consid- erable promise. It too has its own journal and a publication programme. It holds annual conferences and organizes symposia on topics of current national importance. It offers a training course for Special Librarians. Among its publications are Education for Librarianship in India, Glossary of Cataloguing terms in Indian Regional Languages, and Directoq of Special and Research Libraries in India.4

These and other activities, which will be discussed in the following pages, have increased the library literature in India both in substance and volume. Ranganathan himself has written as many as 6fty books.5 His other writings are so numerous that a second volume of the Ranganathan Festschrift has been published to contain a bibliography of and about his writings. The growth of literature is further evidenced from the publication in 1967 of the Indian Library Science Abstracts.6

Turning to the library scene at the time of independence, one finds the echoes, in the professional literature, of Ranganathan’s National Library System: A Plan for India (1946), and Post- War Reconstruction of Libraries in India (1947). Realizing the importance of a unified system of library services, as enunciated in these plans, Sir John Sargent, the then Educa- tional Adviser to the Government of India, appointed in 1947 a National Library Committee with Ranganathan as one of its members. The Com- mittee was charged to prepare a plan for the establishment of a National Central Library. Based on his earlier plans, Ranganathan prepared and presented in 1948, a memorandum to the Committee. Although the memorandum was formally approved, no action seems to have been taken on the implementation of its recommendations. The publication of the plan,7 contained in the memorandum, however, owes its existence to Sir Maurice Gawyer, the then Vice-Chancellor of the University of Delhi.* The plan in its published form envisaged the establishment ofone national

1 Notes and topics, Libr. Herald (1966), 9,262. s Notes and news, Herald of Library Science (1967), 6,744. 3 See P. N. Kaula (1964-). A study of library organizations in India. Herald of Library Science

3,130-148. 4 See G. B. Ghosh (1965). An Account of the Activities of the Indian Association of S’ecial Libraries

and Information Centres. Calcutta. 5 Editorial, Pakistan Libr. Rev. (1962), IV, 5. 6 IASLZC Bull. (1968), 13,104-5. ’ S. R. Ranganathan (1950). Library Develobment: Plan: A Thirty Ear Programme for India.

Delhi : University of Delhi. * See P. N. Kaula (1964). An evaluation of public library service in India. Herald of Library

Science 3, 112-13.


central library; 22 state central libraries; 154 city central libraries; 790 city branch libraries; 360 rural central libraries; 4053 rural branch libraries; 268,361 delivery stations with 13,107 additional service points; the library manpower needed to implement this plan was estimated at 115,965.i A number of Public Library Bills prepared by Ranganathan were already receiving the consideration of the State authorities: West Bengal (193 1) ; Travancore (1947) ; Cochin (1947) ;, and Bombay ( 1947) .2 Thus it would be evident that at the threshold of its independence India’s library world was all in all Ranganathan.

Actually, libraries have increased in number beyond Ranganathan’s anticipation.3 In the pre-partitioned India, the university libraries, as is apparent from the earlier discussion, received appreciable attention from the authorities and it was because of this that their libraries could build up respectable collections. These libraries thus helped to create a library movement in their areas which gradually spread all over India. This line of development continued even on a larger scale after independence. The importance that the University education was to receive in the post- independence India was evident in 1948 when the University Education Commission was appointed with Dr S. Radhakrishnan (later Vice-Presi- dent and President of India) as its Chairman. The Commission was critical of poor library facilities, and the absence of open access in most of the colleges and university libraries. Funds were inadequate to permit better facilities. Their recommendations therefore included introduction of open access system; longer library hours; inculcation of reading habits amongst students; better organization; and a well-trained staff.4 The Commission was, however, criticized by 0. P. Sharmas for its scanty attention to the fundamental issues with which the university libraries were faced. By 1956, a hundred years had elapsed since universities were first established in India. According to C. G. Viswanathan :s

Measured by modern standards of library service to students and teachers, it must be admitted that none of these universities comes up to the standard in providing a very efficient and satisfactory library service. In spite of the shortcomings to which the university library service was subjected during the last hundred years its performance seems creditable. The products and

1 P. N. Kaula, Library movement in India, in his Library Movement in India, p. 94. s P. N. Kaula, An evaluation of public library service in India, p. 120. s S. R. Ranganathan (1968). Future oflibrary service and library science in India. Herald of

Library S'cieme,7,5. 4 Rose, School and college libraries in the evolution of education in modern India, p. 78. s Sharma, History of the development of the University Libraries in India-an appraisal,

pp. 134-35. 6 C. G. Viswanathan (1957). A hundred years of Indian University libraries, 1857-1956, a

historical and critical survey. Libr. Assoc. Rec. 49,395.

52 A. KHURSHID

personalities of these universities, who have made a distinctive contribution to the life of the Indian nation in various sphere of activities . . . indicate the quality and quantity of library service.

But it was at the close of these hundred years (1956) that the University Grants Commission received $5,000,000 accruing from the interest on the U.S. Wheat Loan Fund for the exclusive use of developing libraries.1 Of this $1,400,000 were earmarked for the purchase of books; $160,000 for grants to 33 librarians for study travel in the United States; and $40,000 for five American librarians to work in India.2 Consequently the Com- mission appointed a Library Committee with Ranganathan as its Chair- man to advise it on matters pertaining to libraries.3 The period following the establishment of the Commission has been characterized by the explosion of universities in India.4 This explosion has resulted in an increase of university and college libraries. As against 26 universities at the time of independence, there are now (1968) 70 universities including 10 institutions recognized as universities. Each of these institutions is required to maintain a library as an integral part of its educational activity.5 As a result of these developments more than half of the universities now have new quarters for their libraries. 6 A liberal financial assistance has ensued based on a tentative formula of Rs. 15 per student and Rs. 200 per teacher and research fellow for the annual purchase of books; new university libraries are granted a special initial grant.7 The Educational Commission (1964-66) has even recommended that “as a norm a university should spend each year about Rs. 25 for each registered student and Rs. 300 per teacher.3 The status and salary of the professional librarians have also been recognized by the University Grants Commission as equivalent to those of teaching and research staff of the university.9 The growth of library resources resulting from these developments has been shown in Table 2 below.

But according to B. S. Kesavan:

1 Mukherjee, Librariumhifi, p. 13. s Laurence J. Ripp and Cecilia R. Kipp (1961). Preliminary report on Indian libraries

and the Indian wheat loan educational exchange program, p. 13. 3 Indian University Grants Commission, Library Committee, University and College Libraries,

1965, New Delhi, p. 1. 4 Subramanyan, History and development of University Libraries in India, p. 11. 5 Muzzaffar Ali (1967). Indian University library development in Progress of Libraries in

India . . . N. B. Sen (ed.). New Delhi: New Book Society ofIndia, pp. 181-82. s Subramanyan, History and development of University Libraries in India, p. 23. 7 India, University Grants Commission, Library Committee, Universitksand College Libraries,

p. 22. s India, Ministry of Education, Education Commission (1964-66), Report. . . Education and

Xztional Development. New Delhi: Govt. of India Press, 1966, p. 288. 9 Ibid., pp. 6667.


. . . The money that has been poured into the university libraries by the UGC has certainly resulted in buildings, book collections, and personnel coming into being, but has anybody carefully examined the qualitative aspect of this expenditure? . . . Many of us are familiar with the February-March excursions of university librarians into book shops to spend UGC money so that it might not lapse! Then as to personnel in the University Library, a tabulated statement of staff in the university libraries interpreted against parameters of students and faculty clientele and services rendered, makes strange reading.1

TABLE 2

Distribution of Universi@ Libraries by Stock, 1951 and 1967

Volumes Number of Libraries 1951 1967

3001-4000 4001-5000 5001-6000 6001-7000 7001-8000 800 l-9000 9001-10,000

lO,OOl-15,000 15,001-20,000 20,001-25,000 25,001-30,000 30,001-35,000 35,00140,000 40,001-45,000 45,001-50,000 50,001-100,000

100,00 l-500,000

1 1

- - -

1 1 2 1 1 1 1

- 1 2 7 6

2s

- -

1 1

- - - -

1 1

- -

1 2 1

16 27 - 51”

* Includes Birla Institute of Technology and Science recognized as university; figures for nine such institutions and ten new universities are not available.

Sources: India, Ministry of Education, Libraries in India, 1951. (pew Delhi] The Ministry [ 1952]), pp. 220-21; Commonwealth Universities Tearbook, 1968.

Carl White’s2 recent survey of the Delhi University Library although criticized for “its vague recommendations lacking in details,3 concludes that “evidence is overwhelming that the book collections taken as a whole are

1 B. S. Kesavan (1967). University libraries and library education in India. The Delhi Library Association Das Gupta Memorial Lecture, 7 April, p. 9.

s Carl White (1965). A Survey ofthe University Library. Delhi: University of Delhi, Planning Unit, p. 39.

s P. N. Kaula (1967). Reflections on Carl White report. Herald of Library Science, 6,27-33.

54 A. RHURSHID

not adequate to meet the standards and educational commitments of the university.” Laurence J. Kipp and Cecilia R. Kipp shared the same views in 196 1 .r The situation of college libraries is even more deplorable. Out of 589 libraries listed in the 1951 directory, Libraries in India,2 19 libraries had a collection ofless than 500 books, while 296 libraries (more than half of the total libraries included in the directory) had a collection of books ranging from 1000 to 5000. The situation has improved to some extent since then, but still there are 13 libraries which possess collections of books ranging from only 1030 to 5723 volumes.3

The Education Commission (1964-66), on the other hand, reports that only four universities spend more than five per cent of their total expenditure on books and periodicals.4 Emphasizing the need for physical rather than financial targets in the development plan of a university library, the Commission says :

Even more important is a proper use of books by students and teachers. Lectures should be supplemented by tutorial instruction and therefore the students should turn to the library to find for themselves, with the help of reference librarians, the relevant material and knowledge needed.

The legacy of non-use was also evident in the Calcutta Commission Report.5 A. L. McNeals has attributed this to the faculty, who, according to him failed to encourage independent reading. Bernard J. Toney,7 on the other hand, thinks this is partly to the British administrative system inherited by India and says, “The university library is much less frequen- ted by the average undergraduate student than it should be.” A recent study on the Delhi University Librarys (1955) is even more specific; an average student uses eight books during an academic year.

N. N. Gidwani, making a comparative analysis of the university libraries, says :

[This leads] one to an inescapable but gloomy conclusion that the Indian Univer- sity Library has on an average in its total stock a smaller number of volumes than what a University Library abroad adds to its already large-sized stock. Any ex- hortion of post-graduate teaching and research on a desirable and international

1 Kipp, Preliminary report on Indian libraries, p. 6. s India, Ministry of Education, Libraries in India, 1951, pp. 220-2 1. 3 International Library Directory, 1966-67. London: A. P. Wales Organization (1967), pp. 513-

14,516,520-21,524,526,533,537. 4 India, Ministry of Education, Education Commission (1964-66), Report . . . Education

and JVational Development, p. 287. 6 Muzaffar Ali, Indian University library development, p. 187. s A. L. McNeal (1959). Academic and research libraries in India. Coil. Rs. Libr., 20,

243-46. 7 Bernard J. Toney (1967). Indian University libraries. Coil. Res. Libr. 26,434. 8 White, A Survey of the lJniversi& of Delhi Library, pp. 10-I 1.


level, without proportionate library facilities therefore appears to me to be both glib and pious. The mention of “impact” of the UGC grant therefore really means that a breath of fresh life has come into what was otherwise a consumptive and academic library system.1

Ranganathan, who once saw in the university library service and sparked through it the potentialities ofpromotional work for the spread of public libraries in India, said this in 1957 when his dreams were realized through the passage of the Madras Public Libraries Act of 1948 :

The rapid expansion of the country since 1947 in the administrative, industrial, economic, educational, and social spheres is stepping up the research potential of the community. To exploit it and to develop it still further, the University Library should provide intensive documentation work and service, both in the anticipation and on demand, in diverse fields of knowledge. For this, its reference staff should be strengthened with well-trained graduate-librarian, who can specialize in particular regions of knowledge. Its resources of periodical literature and abstracting periodicals should be increased in several fields of knowledge, particularly in the applied field neglected in the past. There should be intimate co-operation with the INSDOC, and the documentation centres for the several industries. The Madras University Library should become the regional documentation centre for the South, for the procurement and reproduction of documents to meet national and international demand.2

But soon Ranganathan realized that “the life and spirit of service,” in libraries which once brought new life into the library movement in India, had lost its vigour and force. Lamenting this change, Ranganathan says :

Some of the libraries have tended to be ritual . . . without substance. The joy due to the increased number is being taken away considerably by this fact. . . . The strength of the library profession has grown manifold during the last forty years. But the standard of performance has begun to deteriorate. . . . A library is taken to be an administrative department instead of a centre of social service. Library fund is taken to be mostly a means to distribute patronage. Library posts too are being filled in a similar spirit. The pioneering fervour of the early . . . librarians is dwindling away with their retirement. The Library Schools are not able to fire the imagination of their students about the social potentiality and responsibility of library science.s

Turning to the public library situation in India, one is apt to make note of the Seminar on the Development of Public Libraries in Asia, held in

1 N. N. Gidwani (1967). The education commission and the academic libraries, in First Seminar of University Librarians in India Heldat the Rajasthan Univers&Jaipurfrom 16-19 JVovember, 1966, ed. N. N. Gidwani. Jaipur: University of Rajasthan, pp. III, 295.

2 Ranganathan, Madras University Library, p. 15. 3 Ranganathan, Future of library service and library science in India, p. 5.

56 A. KHURSHID

Delhi, 6-26 October, 1955. The Seminar lists five requirements as basic to the creation of a national public library service. They are:

(1) Adequate and organized service at the point of contact with the reader; (2) National legislation; (3) Provision wholly from national, state, and local funds; (4) Experiment in selected areas; (5) Good training of librarians and recognition by status and salary of librarian-

ship as a professi0n.l

Viewed against these requirements, a national public library system is totally absent from the Indian scene. Nor does the national planning of library services as an integral part of the country’s educational development within its social and economic planning, as outlined in the Main Working Document2 of the 1967 Colombo Meeting on National Planning of Library Experts in Asia, exist in India. Although public libraries fall within the jurisdiction of the states, the central government, through its first and second Five-Year Plans (1951-55 and 1956-60) assisted the state governments in establishing state central libraries, district libraries, and regional libraries, and an Institute of Library Science for the training of the public librarians. s In the third Five-Year Plan (1961-65), although launched with a lofty statement on libraries that “an adequate system of libraries is an essential part of any well-organized system of education,” yet public libraries received the least priority.4 By 1964 all the states except those of Madhya Pradesh, Mysore, Orissa, and Nagaland had their state central libraries.5 For the fourth Five-Year Plan (1966-70), which is already in operation from the fiscal year 1966-67, a Working Group on Libraries was appointed by the Planning Commission to prepare guidelines for the planners. The proposal made by the Group for the development of public libraries includes establishment of three National Central Libraries, one each at New Delhi, Madras, and Bombay; 122 district libraries; 1217 block central libraries; 25 city libraries, including three model libraries at Bombay, Calcutta and Madras on the lines of Delhi Public Library.6 Table 3, as given below, shows the distribution of the suggested expenditure on libraries in the fourth Five-Year Plan :

1 UNESCO, Public Librariesfor Asia: The DelhiSeminar. Paris: UNESCO (1956), p. 39. s UNESCO, Experts meeting on national planning of library services in Asia, Colombo,

Ceylon, 11-19 December, 1967, Main Working Document, pp. 2-3. 3 Krishna Kanta Sud (1958). A contribution to library planning in India (unpublished

Master’s dissertation, Graduate Library School, University of Chicago), pp, 2-5. 4 Mukherjee, Librarianship, p. 183. 5 D. R. Kalia (1965). Libraries in fourth five-year plan, Indian Libr. Assoc. Bull. 1, 15. 6 Ibid., pp. 12-16.


TABLE 3 Distribution of the suggested expenditure on libraries

in the fourth jve-year plan (1966-70)

Type of Libraries Ex@nditure Percentage of Total Expenditure

(in Rupees)

Academic libraries 388,500,OOO 32.8 Special libraries 32 l,OOO,OOO 27.2 Public libraries 433,400,000 36.4 Ancillary services 43,500,000 3.6 Book production 200,000,000 -

1,386,400,000 100.0

Source: D. R. Kalia (1965). Libraries in fourth five-year plan. Indian Library Association Bulletin, I, 25.

This is an account, in brief, of the part played by the central government in the development of public libraries throughout the country. But most important was its step to establish in 1951, the Delhi Public Library as the first UNESCO library pilot project under the joint auspices of UNESCO and the Government of India. The purpose of this project was to adapt “modern techniques to Indian conditions” and to serve as a demonstration of a modern public library for India and other countries of Asia.1 In October, 1955, a UNESCO Seminar on Development of Public Libraries in Asia was held in Delhi to make “an appraisal of what [this] library had so far achieved, what problems had been encountered, and how they had been overcome or at any rate tackled.2 The UNESCO Regional Seminar on Library Development in South Asia was held again in Delhi from 3 to 14 October, 1960. “One of the objects of the Seminar,“3 according to the Report of the Group on Public Libraries, “was to analyse the impact of Delhi Public Library Project on the library development in South Asia.” The Seminar applauded the success of this library and recommended that the participating countries should set up similar projects. Although the library’s success can be gauged from its 86 service points (including a library in the prison, service to two hospitals, a braille library, and four mobile libraries covering 52 localities) and its collection of 370,525 books,* it has so far failed to attract the attention of legislators to provide a legal basis for its support.

1 Ibid., p. 11. 2 Frank M. Gardner (1957). 77ze Delhi Public Library : An Evaluation Report. Paris : UNESCO,

p. 9. 3 UNESCO, Regional Seminar on Library Development in South Asia, Delhi, 3-14 Octo-

ber, 1960, Report ofGroup I (Public Libraries) : Part I, p. 4. 4 Delhi Public Library, Annual Report, 1966-67 (Delhi, 1967), p. 5.

58 A. KHURSHID

In 1957 yet another development took place which gave further impetus to the public libraries in India. The Government appointed an Ad- visory Committee for Libraries to enquire into the reading needs of the people and to recommend the future library structure in India.1 Accord- ing to this Rejwt, there were nearly 32,000 libraries as of March, 1954, with a little over 7,100,OOO volumes with an annual circulation of 37,700,OOO volumes.2 Most of them were hardly close to a public library; they were, rather, subscription libraries, yet they were named as public libraries. According to the Report, “the public libraries have only one book for every 50 heads, and as many as 20 persons between themselves read only one book in a year.“3 The Committee recommended an elaborate Public Library System with broad outlines of a comprehensive State Li- brary Law and a Central Library Law embodying therein the right of every citizen for free access to libraries; the collation of the various deposit sections under the Copyright Act, and the Delivery of Books Act passed in 1954 and subsequently amended in 1956; and the provision for financial assistance to state governments for providing public libraries.4 The Com- mittee’s recommendations, however, were not implemented; and, according to D. R. Kalia, “no significant progress has been made by public libraries . . . since the submission of the Sinhas Report in 1959.6

However, even before the publication of this Report, the first library legislation was in operation in Madras State. This Act, called the Madras Public Libraries Act of 1948, was based on a model Bill prepared by Ran- ganathan in 1942. But some important provisions in the model Bill were excluded from the final Act.7 C. S. Krishnamurti calls this a “serious mutilation”.*

According to C. G. Viswanathan:

Compared to British library legislation [before the passage of the Public Libraries and Museums Act, 19641 the Madras Public Libraries Act, 1948, is certainly a decided improvement [here the reference is to the clause relating to library cess in the Act which permits increase in the rate] and offers scope for advanced communities to establish a more efficient library service.s

1 India, Ministry of Education, Advisory Committee for Libraries, Report, p. 117. 2 Ibid., p. 5. 3 Ibid. * Ibid., pp. 114-15. 5 The Report of the Advisory Committee is also called the Sinha Report after the name of its

chairman. 6 Kalia, Libraries in fourth five-year plan, p. 12. 7 S. R. Ranganathan (1953). Libru7y Legislation. Madras: Madras LibraryAssociation,p. 57. s C. S. Krishnamurti (1961). Library legislation in India, in Library Movement in India,

P. N. Kaula (ed.), p. 51. 9 C. G. Viswanathan (1961). An Introduction to Public Library OTcanization with Special Reference

to India, 2nd ed. Bombay: Asia Publishing House, p. 45.


This advantage is, however, offset by another clause which empowers the Local Library Authority to make regulations for :

(a) the admission of the public libraries in its area on such conditions and on pay- ment of such fees as it may specify;

(b) requiring from persons desiring to use libraries any guarantee or security against injury to, or misuse, destruction, or loss of the property of such libraries.1

F. M. Gardner describes this Act as “a most admirable piece of legislation which so far has achieved little”2 to which Ranganathan quickly re- sponded by saying, “Cheap sarcasm and the ‘little’ knowledge . . . often go together.3 At another place Ranganathan explains the problems with which the Act was faced :

The Library Act of Madras came into force in February, 1949. Political vicissitudes set in. For nearly five years his successor [new Minister of Education in the Govern- ment of Madras who succeeded Avinasilingam Chettiar, the Minister who was responsible for the enactment of the Act] left the Act in cold storage. But in spite of it, the statutory library fund was growing. Another change in the ministry brought the Act successively under Krishna Rao and Subramanian. . . . Since 1953, the library development has put on steam in Madras and Andhra. Because of the existence of a statute, it could not be subjected to a “ruthless cut”. The legislature alone could do it. It is not easy for a minister to move the legislature to kill the movement. Every year’s progress will hereafter make it increasingly difficult for a sleeping minister to retard its steady motion and still less to kill it. That is the guarantee given by library legislation.4

And he was right. The public library system in the Madras State, despite its shortcomings, has grown. The system now consists of a State Central Library; 12 District Central Libraries as against 14 needed; 744 Branch Libraries as against 1000 needed for the full development of the system; four Travelling Libraries as against 500 needed; 1000 Rural Library Ser- vice Centres as against 1000 needed. The system contains 24 million volumes and is supported through an annual budget of 7 million rupees.5 The following Table 4 shows a comparison of the developments in India, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

1 Ibid., pp. 174-75. 2 F. M. Gardner (1956). Review of An Introduction to Public Library Administration with Special

Reference to India, by C. G. Viswanathan, Librap Assoc. Rec. 58,248. 3 S. R. Rang&than (1956). Corres&mde&e. Libr. Ask Rec. 58,316. 4 S. R. Ranganathan, Library Way for India, in Library Movement in India, P. N. Kaula (ed.),

p. 29. 5 Based on Ranganathan (1968). Library development in Madras State. Herald of Library

Sentice, VII, 42-43.

60 A. KHURSHID

TABLE 4

Comparison of public library development in India, United States and United Kingdom, 1961-62 or 1962-63

Particulars

Ratio of Ratio of (1) India (2) U.S.A. columns (3) U.K. columns (Rupees) (Rupees) 1 to2 (Rupees) 1 to 3

National per capita income per annum

Per capita expenditure on education per annum

Per capita expenditure on public libraries per annum

Book stock per 100 persons Registered borrowers per

100 persons Books borrowed per

100 persons Staff:

Total Professional Per cent Professional

334.00 13,775.oo

8.70 804.00

00.03 12.47

1 100 1:lOO 145 1:145 0.1 25 1:125 37 1:137

1.6 422 1:263 824 1:512

1926 16,200 1:8 15,521 1:8 449 5125 1:ll 3089 1:7

23.3% 31.6% - 19.9% -

1:41 6450.00 1:19

1:89 176.00

1:416 6.00

1:27

1:200

Source: D. R. Kalia (1965). A Survey of Public Libraries in India. Delhi: Indian Library Association, pp. 9-10.

According to Makin: “Legislation in itself is not sufficient to secure adequate library facilities. The apathy of state and local authorities and the people themselves must be faced and overcome before Madras can be made to serve as an exception for other states.“1 D. R. Kalia’sa survey of public library services in India reveals that the states with library legislation have better dispersal of public library facilities; however, they do not have enough funds to provide “optimum standard of service”. West Ben- gal, with no library legislation, spends 9.3 paise per capita on public libraries, whereas Madras spends 6.9 paise and Andhra Pradesh only 4 paise.3 Whether the Madras Act has served any useful purpose may still be contested, but it is very obvious that the Library Acts in three other states have resulted from this Act. In 1955, as a result of the bifurcation of the Madras State, the Madras Library Act also began to function in part

1 Makin, The background to the problem oflibrary provision in India, p. 69. 2 D. R. Kalia (1965). A Survey of Public Library Services in India. Delhi: Indian Library

Association, p. 2. s Kalia, Libraries in fourth five-year plan, pp. 10-25.


of the newly constituted State of Andhra Pradesh. In 1954 the former Hyderabad State had already passed a bill drafted by Ranganathan. Its merger with Andhra Pradesh thus brought another Library Act in the province. In 1960 the Andhra Pradesh passed the Andhra Pradesh Public Library Act by amalgamating these two sets of Library Acts. The “Spill- over” of the Madras Public Libraries Act was also found in the two reorganized States of Mysore and Kerala. Although a comprehensive Act prepared by Ranganathan is still under the consideration of the government of Kerala, Mysore Public Libraries Bill has now become an Act in 1966. The Maharashtra Public Libraries Act of 1967 has also come into force on 1 May, 1968.1 A model public libraries bill sponsored by the Ministry of Education was widely circulated for the purpose of eliciting comments. This bill was intended for adoption by the state governments and was even presented at the UNESCO Regional Seminar on Library Development in South Asia (1960) for discussion. The Bill, according to Ranganathan, “spells out far too many details . . . [but] does not em- body much of sound and up-to-date knowledge of library organization in a country or astate. . . . It is unworthy of being taken as a model.“2

Most important of all the post-independence library developments was the inauguration of the National Library in 1948 by changing the name of the Imperial Library, Calcutta. From 5000 titles in 1947, the annual book purchase had increased to 21,782 in 1964. The periodicals likewise increased to 10,037 in 1964 as against 425 in 1947.3 According to the information collected for the UNESCO Regional Seminar on the Develop- ment of National Libraries in Asia and the Pacific Area, Manila, 3-15 February, 1964, this Library, in terms of the size of its collection, ranked second in the area (with a collection of 1,117,87 1 printed books), the first being the National Diet Library of Japan (collection of printed books: 2,021,604) .4 The quarterly publication in 1957 of the Indian NationuZ Bib- Ziosraphr as part of its function as the National Library of India, is a land- mark in the bibliographical world of today inasmuch as it brings together publications of the 14 languages (recognized by the Constitution) by transliterating their bibliographical information into Roman script. The Bibliography is divided into two parts; the first part includes general publications and the second part includes public documents. The arrange-

1 S. B. Joshi ( 1968). From India, UNESCO Regional Centre for Reading Materials flewletters 10, 10.

s S. R. Ranganathan (1964). Model Public Libraries Bill . . . an evaluation. Herald of Library Science, 3, 228-29.

3 Mukherjee, Librarian&b, p. 177. 4 UNESCO, Regional Seminar on the development of National Libraries in Asia and the

Pacific Area, Manila, 3-15 February, 1964, Information on National Libraries in Asia and the Pacific Area (1963). Paris: UNESCO, pp. 12-54.

62 A. KHURSHID

ment of entries is according to the Decimal Classification; Colon Class& cation numbers are also assigned. The State Central Libraries, designated as the bibliographical centre for the respective languages ofthe area, publish National Bibliography in vernacular, separate for each language, as a supplement to the Indian JVationaZ Bibliography. The National Library has also undertaken to publish retrospective bibliographies on 1ndology.l Printed card service has, however, yet to start. But in 1961 a commercial service, called the Universal Library Service Corporation (ULISCO) announced a scheme in which it was proposed to send printed cards along with the book itself.2 The cost of the cataloguing, according to this announcement, would be borne by the publisher as part of its promotional expenditure. Motilal Banarsidass, a leading publisher, according to this announcement, had agreed to join this programme.

The country’s industrial growth after independence brought about an accent on scientific research and with it the science and technology libraries appeared on the Indian scene, opening up another avenue through which library development in India could be furthered. For this reason, Ranganathan urged upon the University libraries to provide intensive documentation services.3 He did not want special libraries and documentation centres to be developed outside the orbit of librarianship. Rather, he wanted to demonstrate to the research workers in India that the profesion of librarianship as it has developed over the years is skilled enough to deal with their problems. This worked out so well in India that the INSDOC, founded at New Delhi in 1952 under the sponsorship of the Government of India and UNESCO, is directed by no less a library cel- ebrity than B. S. Kesavan himself. Its library journal, Annals of Library Science andDocumentation (1954- ), has been playing an important role in the promotion of research in library science and documentation. Libra9 Science with a Slant on Documentation (1964- ), sponsored by the Sarada Ranganathan Endowment, is yet another media for research in librarianship with special reference to documentation and reprography in India. The Documentation Research and Training Centre, founded at Banga- lore in 1962 as part of the Indian Statistical Institute,4 under the director- ship of Ranganathan has been doing excellent work in providing exten- sive training in documentation work. The Centre holds annual seminars and publishes its proceedings. Some 450 research papers have so far been published through these publications.

1 P. S. Patnaik (1962). Bibliographical organization and control in India. J. Indian Libr. Assoc. 4,88-90.

8 Sarla D. Nagar, circular letter to librarians, 6 November, 1961. 8 Ranganathau, Madras University Library, p. 15. 4 Gopinath, Library profession and its evolution, Library Science with a Slant on Docummtation,

p. 275.


The IASLIC Directory of S’eciul Libraries1 in India lists some 400 libraries,which represents only50% of the special and research libraries in India.2 Most of these libraries were established in the post-independence era.3 The fact that the government is taking active interest in such libraries is evident from the percentage of state-controlled libraries in the IASLIC Directory, which from just 10% in 19503 1 has gone up to 45 % in 1962.4 Some of these libraries have been organized and developed under various aid programmes. The Library of the Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur was one of them which received assistance from the U.S. Government and 10 leading U.S. education institutions.5

According to Oliver C. Dunn : The libraries of other educational institutions in India did not seem to Dr Kelkar [Dr P. K. Kelkar, Director of the Institute] and Prof. Dahl [Professor Norman C. Dahl, Program Leader of the Kanpur Indo-American Program] to offer adequate models for planning the future development of the library at Kanpur; other Indian University libraries generally played a negligible part in institutional plans and educational programs. Dr Kelkar hoped that the IIT/Kanpur library would depart in important respects from generally established Indian library practice.6

Thus developed, the Library contains 100,000 volumes, and its librarian is in the professor’s scale with membership on the academic senate.

In the trail of these developments, school libraries seem to have lagged far behind. It was only in the Report of the Secondary Education Com- mission (1953), known as the Mudaliar Commission after its Chairman, Dr A. Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar, that its importance was recognized and due attention was given to the question of school libraries. The Com- mission did not find libraries of any significance in most of the schools. Nor did most of the teachers or educational administrators have any sense of urgency in the matter. Amongst the Commission’s recommendations were the appointment of a full-time librarian in every elementary school and a centrallibrary under him. It also recommended that teachers should be given some training in the basic principles of library work in Teachers’ Training Colleges.7 According to Kalia,* the Third Five-Year

1 Indian Association of Special Libraries and Information Centres, Directory of @e&Z Libraries in India (1962). Calcutta: IASLIC.

2 Most of these libraries are attached to the Govermnent departments, both at the centre and at the state headquarters.

s Indian Association of Special Libraries and Information Centres, Directory of Special Libraries, p. i.

4 B. N. Banerjea (196dr). The rise ofscience-technology libraries in India. Indian Libr. 19,15. 5 Special Libr. 59,577. 6 Oliver C. Dunn, The library at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, ESI Q. Rep.,

115. 7 Based on Bose, School and college libraries in the evolution of education in modern India,

p. 79. * Kalia, Libraries in fourth five-year plan, pp. 7-6.

64 A. KHURSHID

Plan left it to the discretion of the educational authorities to decide upon the size of funds to be spent on school libraries in the secondary schools. This has resulted in the neglect oflibraries at this level. In the Fourth Five- Year Plan, 5% of the total outlay for secondary education has been earmarked for books, staff, and equipment for libraries. At the elementary school level, no separate provision for libraries has been made in the Fourth Five-Year Plan, because it was thought that the village public libraries provided for the Plan would take care of the school needs. For this reason, it has been recommended to maintain such libraries in the school premises. The Education Commission (196466), on the other hand, has recommended a circulating library for rural primary schools.1 A School Library Bureau has been proposed to be set up in each state during the Fourth Five-Year Plan period with a view to provide central- ized processing services for the school library system.

It will thus be evident that the library movement in India began with the advent of British rule. The British educational policy, which was designed to meet the needs of the administration, had its definite imprint on the library development. Higher education received priority at the cost of education at lower levels. The development of library facilities even at the first three universities established in 1857 was delayed, since they did not perform any teaching in the beginning. After the enactment of the Indian Universities Act of 1904, university libraries began to receive some attention. When developed, these libraries became the centre of library activities. Library Associations were formed; non-students were permitted to use the university library facilities. Thus, from these centres of higher education a movement of far-reaching significance grew and spread all over India. This movement started by Dickinson in Lahore was carried forward by his pupil, Khan Bahadur K. M. Asadullah, then Li- brarian of the Imperial Library, Calcutta, and even with more force and the power of a mystic, by Ranganathan in Madras. The public library movement started by Borden in Baroda, although it had largely influenced the activities of the Madras Library Association under the leadership of Ranganathan, did not survive after independence. The Madras movement had the advantage of a dynamic leader in the person of Ran- ganathan and a living example of the modern library services offered at the Madras University Library. Limited by the lack oflibrary facilities at schools and by the inadequate library services at colleges, public library movement in India has been further handicapped by the highest rate of illiteracy and the lack of adequate book production in the vernacular. The emphasis in teaching on examinations has failed to create any interest

1 India, Ministry of Education, Education Commission, 1964-66, Report , . . Education qzd N&ion& Development, p. 486.


for independent study and continuing education. Even so, the Madras movement brought about the enactment of the Madras Public Libraries Act of 1948. The Delhi Public Library, itself lacking a legal basis for its financial support, has, however, created some active interest in the central government, as is apparent from the Model Public Libraries Bill circulated by the Government of India. The Government’s interest in the improvement of library facilities is further evidenced from the constitution of a National Advisory Board of Libraries “to advise the Government of India and the State Governments on all matters pertaining to libraries, including the establishment, improvement, reorganization, and coordin- ated development of libraries in the country”.1 Almost all the library planning in India has been the work of indigenous leadership, largely of Ranganathan. A few modern libraries and information centres have been developed under the guidance of experts from outside. Notable amongst such libraries and information centres are the Delhi Public Library, INSDOC, and the Library of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kan- pur, etc.

1 India, Ministry of Education, Regort on Educational Developments, India 1966-67 (1967). New Delhi : The Ministry, p. 85.

growth of libraries in india

Documents