Page 106 - DLIS101_LIBRARY_AND_INFORMATION_SOCIETY

Unit 9: Development of Libraries in India, U.K and U.S.A

With the existence of democratic governments in several provinces beginning in 1937, apother phase Notes
of the library movement began. Between 1937 and 1942, a number of village ibraries and travelling
libraries sprang up in Assam, Bihar, Punjab, and Travancore. It was estimated that there were about
13,000 village libraries in India in 1942. Another remarkable development was the appointment of
the ‘Library Development Committee’ by the Government of Bombay, with A.A.A. Fyzee as its
chairman. The Committee ambitiously recommended a comprehensive library system to be
implemented in three successive stages. Because of financial constraints, the government could
only implement part of the recommendations.

After Independence
After independence, the growth of libraries in general has been remarkable, although not as
remarkable as that of academic and special libraries. At the time of independence, India was facing
a host of challenges. Those in the rural population, 88 percent of the total, were nearly all illiterate.
Transportation was poor and mass media merely nominal. Nevertheless, the public library scene in
India improved considerably during the post independence period, though it is still lacking on
several fronts. Verma & Agrawal argue that to compare our public libraries with those of the
developed nations on equal footing, we have to go a long way.
The 1951 census, the first conducted after independence, found 2,843 local governments in the urban
and rural areas in India, of which 320 were rural district boards. Only about one third of local
governments maintained public libraries, about 950. In addition, there were about 1,500 subscription
libraries. So-called public libraries primarily were reading rooms with a few hundred books for
reading on the premises.
The Delhi public library deserves special mention. It was founded in 1951 as the first UNESCO
Public Library Pilot Project under the joint auspices of UNESCO and Government of India. The
purpose of the library was to adapt “modern techniques to Indian conditions” and to serve as a
model public library for Asia. The establishment of Delhi Public Library, the involvement of union
government in the public library movement, and the enactment of public library legislation in some
states are the main factors which contributed to the improvement of public libraries after
independence. Although the government of India allotted funds for public library development in
its five-year plans, this funding was not connected to effective planning.

Write a short note about the development of libraries in India after independence.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
1. Maharaja of ...... started the famous Saraswati Mahal Library in 17th century A.D.
2. In the year ......, the government of Bombay proposed to register libraries.

9.2 Library Development in United Kingdom

The earliest public library in England was established at the London Guildhall in 1425 in the early
years of the 17th century many famous collegiate and town libraries were founded throughout the
country. Francis Trigge Chained Library of St. Wulfram’s Church, Grantham, Lincolnshire was founded
in 1598 by the rector of nearby Welbourne. Norwich City library was established in 1608 (six years
after Thomas Bodley founded the Bodleian Library, which was open to the “whole republic of the
learned” and 145 years before the foundation of the British Museum), and Chetham’s Library in

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