A report on public library services in the NCT of Delhi released

The Project Report, Public Library Services in the NCT of Delhi, Present Status and Development Plan: 2010-2020 has been published by the Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation. The project has been prepared as an assignment under the Tagore National Fellowship by Prof. P. B. Mangla, the first ever Fellowship initiative in the field of Public Library Services, by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.

The survey report emphasizes that in order to meet the needs of the users effectively, it is necessary that each unit of a public library should be a viable unit. This may not be otherwise possible, howsoever generously supported financially it may be, and therefore, there is need for developing it as part of a larger system. The need for developing the public library service as part of a larger system has been always advocated, both at the national and international levels, by organizations such as UNESCO, IFLA, American Library Association, The Library Association (London) and Indian Library Association.

The Report starts with the conceptual frame work which describes a public library as a community center which is expected to function with a free and unbiased outlook and this aspect has been well recognized the world over, both in developed and developing countries. The report presents an overall scenario in the country. All states should pass the Public Library Law and those which have passed the Law should implement. It further analyses the salient features of Public Library Laws already passed in 18 States in the country and reveals that all of them have given due recognition to the essential features of public library. This two volumes report (V1- Project Report V2- Survey Report), will certainly influence our national policy makers for enacting necessary Public Library Legislation for developing a proper public library system for the citizens of NCT of Delhi.

-G S Jolly