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Unit 12: Library Legislation

Authority, charged with the duty of implementing the Act. It will be his duty to supervise Notes
and promote the improvement of the library service, provided by the library authorities
and to secure proper discharge of their functions. It shall be his statutory duty to establish,
equip, administer a State library system, providing comprehensive and efficient library
service, free of charge, to all the citizens in the State.
3. Chief Executive of the State: In this Act, the Chief Executive at State level shall be called the
Director of Public Libraries; who should an in information science professional. The
Director shall supervise and control the public library system of the state, with the guidance
of the State Library Authority.

4. Network of Libraries: The act should provide for establishment and functioning of public
libraries as a pyramidal structure from village, or even a hamlet level, to the state level
via the districts covering towns and tehsils, etc.
5. Financial Clauses: The Act should spell out financial sources to ensure a regular flow of
funds and their deployment. There should be a provision in the Act to collect library cess
from all possible sources. Dr. S. R. Ranganathan, a pioneer in library legislation in India,
advocated for the provision of library cess in the Model Acts. He incorporated the provision
of library cess in all Acts he had drafted in his lifetime. The Advisory Committee for
Public Libraries headed by Shri K. P. Sinha, examined this issue and opined that “in spite
of a strong body of opinion against library cess, the Committee has come to the conclusion
that only a cess can provide a stable base for library finance.”

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Caution It is to be recognised that the levy of library cess is essential for a planned and
systematic growth of an authority through assured and established financial resources.
6. Manpower: A provision should be made to create a cadre of State Library Service, and all
the members of the said service should be Government servants, and their recruitment
and conditions of service should be as per provisions of the Article 309 of the Constitution
of India.
7. Accountability: The activities and accounts of the Public Library System shall be open to
public inspection, supervision and as per official audit rules.
8. Registration of Books: There must be a provision for the registration of books and
periodicals published in the State under the legal deposit rules.
9. Rules: Rules should be made by the State Library Authority for all the sections and for
smooth functioning, administration and control of the offices and the staff.
Thus, if you examine the Model Library Act, you would see that it encompasses a wide range of
activities. If you analyse, you will find that Model Library Act has the impact of Ranganathan’s
Five Laws of Library Science viz.,
Books are for use

Every Book his/her Reader
Every reader his/her book
Save the time of the Reader
Library is a Growing Organism
These laws provide not only a succinct statement of library’s professional activity, but also form
a set of guidelines for the management of libraries.

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