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Foundation of Library and Information Science

Notes particularly useful for poor children. Even those who are better off can’t afford to buy all the
books they require for their studies.

Example: Invaluable books like Encyclopedias and large dictionaries cannot be purchased.
A public library is a place that is open to poor and rich alike. There are mainly two sections in a
library. They are the lending section and the reference section. Any member can borrow books
from the lending section. Non-members too can use the reference section. They are allowed to
enter the section free of charge. They can take down notes from the books. In addition to these
two sections, there is another section in a library. Here any one can do his or her studies under
a calm and quiet environment. This section is called “The study room”. Some students find it
very difficult to do their studies at their homes due to various reasons. This section is particularly
useful for such students. A library is very useful for rural youths too. If they take to reading they
will be able to refrain from evil habits such as loitering and gambling. There are not only books,
but also newspapers, magazines, periodicals and government gazette in a library.

In view of the above facts, it is apparent that a library is a very important place in the society.
With the growing popularity of internet, which provides loads of information with just a click
of a mouse, one may pause to think about the decreasing relevance and importance of a library
in today’s world. But one should keep in mind that a person goes to a library not only to search
and get information from books but also to sit and study there. The ambience and the peaceful
and scholarly atmosphere then helps one to concentrate more on one’s work and study.

!
Caution Libraries will never become redundant. They will always be there to indicate the
presence of a well-read and educated society.
Libraries, however, have never been alone in their existence and always needed people to
organize things around and make best use out of them. Any library needs to have a lot of books
that are collected from various sources, has to be organized and then preserved – and the people
who do all of this are librarians. In the last century, library science has evolved into library and
information science, which includes technology – especially computers – in the field as tools for
managing and preserving.

Example: Let’s say you are interested in finding a book related to the field of medicine
that can help you with writing a report on pills. The importance of library science has never
faded in the last hundred years and as the collective book resources of the world keep growing,
so will our need for library science. The preservation of information has also made it into the
depths of our technological needs, giving rise to data collection on hard drives that can be saved
for decades to come.

Self Assessment

State whether the following statements are true or false:
7. A library plays a very important role in promoting the progress of knowledge.
8. A public library is a place that is only open to rich.

9. A library is very useful for rural youths.

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