Sound library system vital for Bangaru Telangana

The visionary Chief Minister of Telangana, K Chandrashekar Rao, has initiated several programmes and projects such as establishment of power plants, Mission Kakatiya, Mission Bhageeratha, TASK (Telangana Academy of Skills and Knowledge Development), announcement of government jobs, etc., to realise the dream of Bangaru Telangana (Golden Telangana), by ushering in all-round development of the State.

In this regard, enlightened people can expedite the Bangaru Telangana realisation. For this, literacy and education are core components and the State has to achieve 100% literacy (now 66.46%). To facilitate affordable and quality education, the government wants to introduce KG-to-PG Free Education from 2016-17.

It may be noted that urban students and youth have better facilities to access knowledge, while rural people (61.33%of population) are in dire need of such facilities to develop their capabilities and competencies. Will formal school/college text books make future citizens competent and knowledgeable? Text books do not make one totally knowledgeable, and libraries can play a key role in achieving this.

Former Chief Minister of united AP, N T Rama Rao, felt the need for knowledgeable, informative and enlightened citizens in a democratic society. During 1986-87, he introduced mandal system to reach governance and schemes and programmes to masses. He rightly zeroed in on the usefulness of libraries in an enriched society; he renamed libraries as “Telugu Vignana Samachara Kendram,” and created many facilities for citizens and students to get access to information.

With one order, he established 565 mandal libraries at every mandal headquarters, which is a universal record. Libraries create awareness about happenings around the world and provide knowledge in different disciplines such as health, civil rights, government policies/programmes and so on. Use of technology enables access to knowledge at finger tips. Libraries role in pre-independent India was distinctive and they were opened in Telangana, located at major centres like Warangal, Khammam, Hyderabad etc.

They were centers of independent and social movements. However, their present state is pathetic due to lack of government support. To make public libraries world-class, international guidelines need to be followed. Prof Haragopal, an eminent human rights activist, opines that libraries have played a key role in Telangana liberation and emphasises the need for well-equipped libraries in every part of the State, which will pave way for Bangaru Telangana.

Further, he opines that the government should strengthen the existing library system and use modern technology to facilitate faster and easy access to knowledge for all citizens. Dr Gangadhar, Vice President, Hyderabad Exhibition Society, recollecting his past experiences of using libraries in USA, states that the libraries in Telangana need to be strengthened on a par with those in developed countries to spread knowledge.

Their state is tragic in spite of the existence of the Public Library Act. As such, the first government of new State should take up necessary measures to modernise and expand them. Library cess is collected by civic bodies as per the Act but it is not utilised for the development of libraries. Negligence on libraries by earlier governments probably must have been due to lack of realisation of the potential of libraries for development of societies.

Amending the Public Library Act with adequate provisions for the development of library system and replacing the term AP with Telangana in the Act could be the first step. An expert committee can be set up to suggest suitable amendments to the Act. The government should scrupulously follow the GO Ms.No. 391, dated 28th October 1994, to ensure that the collected library cess is credited to the library fund within a month.

Appointment of qualified, competent and skilled professionals is necessary to guide the users to better utilise resources. Existing staff need to be trained to build greater skills and competencies in ICT use. Besides a good infrastructure, books form a very key component of the library system.

An effective selection and collection of books, magazines, journals and newspapers through proper purchases is critical and Telangana can take a cue from States like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka which have a sound library system in place. Digitisation of books, availability of digital books and net connectivity should be built into the system. (The writer is President, Telangana Library Association).