Other States - Puducherry   

Library movement to be improved in Puducherry

Photo: T. Singaravelou

Facelift: Secretary (Art and Culture) S. Kumaraswamy (second from right) having a word with Assistant Library Information Officer of National Library, Kolkata, T.B. Chauhan, at the librarians meet in Puducherry on Friday. —

PUDUCHERRY: The library movement in the Union Territory of Puducherry is poised for a big change, particularly against the backdrop of the framework and guidelines given by the National Knowledge Commission, according to Secretary (Art and Culture) S.Kumaraswamy.

Inaugurating a seminar and librarians’ meet held by the Department of Art and Culture and National Library, Kolkata, he said here on Friday that though the government in the Union Territory had been liberal in its approach towards promoting the library system, a lot of things needed to be done in this regard.

The government wanted to adhere to the norm of establishing a library in all the villages which had a population of over 1,000. But it was not able to provide sufficient facilities to the personnel belonging to hundreds of libraries spread over the Union Territory, he said.

Most of these libraries were housed in private buildings, he said, adding that steps were being taken to shift them gradually to own buildings.

The move to form a separate department for libraries had also helped the government to pay more attention to improve the service conditions of the personnel in this sector he said, commending the library staff for maintaining patience and discipline.

As soon as the task of formulating the recruitment rules were completed, the government would be able to put a system in place in the next two or three years with a focus on placement of personnel and improvement of their service conditions in the libraries located in the rural areas, Mr. Kumaraswamy said. He also appealed to the librarians to cooperate with the administration in this regard. The task which had not been accomplished in the last 15 or 20 years could not be fulfilled in a year or two, he said, adding that whatever steps the government initiated now would yield results after four years.

With the Central government giving prime importance to libraries, the Prime Minister had set up a National Knowledge Commission which had chosen the task of improving the library system as a mission subject, he said.Among others, Assistant Library Information Officer of the National Library T.B.Chauhan and Director (Art and Culture) S.Banumathi spoke .

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

No need for medicos to get agitated: panel chief
Children’s scientific temper to the fore
Library movement to be improved in Puducherry
Talk on HIV/AIDS on December 4
Suspect held
Power shutdown today
Assistance to policeman kin

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu