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Foundation of Library and Information Science

Notes 4. The higher level of information service requires staff with subject specialisation and
communication abilities.

8.2 Purpose of Special Libraries

While other types of libraries serve multiple objectives such as education, research, recreation,
cultural and social activities, the major and perhaps only objective of a special library, is the
provision of information, in support of the objectives of its parent organisation. Special libraries
exist in a wide variety of organisations, most of them being units of larger organisations. Their
purposes are usually other than provision of education or conventional library services, invariably
meeting the information requirements of the organisations to which they are attached.
Special libraries are formed in research and development establishments, government
departments, directorates, industrial and business undertakings, learned societies and professional
associations, trade and business associations, hospitals and health services, social and welfare
organisations, museums, national gallery of arts, etc. However special libraries are also
established to serve a particular group of users or specialists working on a subject or a group of
subjects or on a particular type of documents, etc. The following table illustrates these units:

These distinguishing features identify special libraries although their functions do very often
overlap. They are developed to support the mission of their sponsoring organization and their
collections and services are more targeted and specific to the needs of their clientele.
The main purposes of a special library are as follows:

1. It serves the information needs of its parent body;
2. It disseminates updated and significant information in the concerned field;
3. It gives pinpointed information promptly;
4. It provides desired information to its users on demand and mostly in anticipation;

5. The users also get new ideas and inspiration to initiate new projects.
Special libraries can be found in government ministries, departments, hospitals and corporations.
The role of each special library is to support the information needs of its users or clients so that
they can achieve the mission and goals of the organisation. These libraries provide a variety of
information services to meet the needs of a specialized population, providing staff and researchers
with the information they need to carry out their tasks.
Special libraries are “special” in their collection, clientle/users and service. All of them provide
pinpointed, exhaustive and expeditious service to their users.

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