K.Ramasamy Resource person Librarian, Kendriya Vidyalaya, No.1, Narimedu, Madurai

In America The birth of school libraries cannot be assigned a definite date. Rather, these first school libraries were born unheralded in the earliest colonial times when the teacher in the one-room placed the Bible, a chapbook, and the Bay Psalm Book on the corner of his desk.”

Interior of one-room school house. Crawford County, Wisconsin. (Vachon, John, , photographer. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA-OWI Collection, LC-USF D)

In 1740 Benjamin Franklin recommended school libraries as a key element in the ideal academy, and the Penn Charter School in Philadelphia designating a specially designed room as the library in 1744.

In the 19th century, the rise of school libraries paralleled and was intertwined with the rise of public libraries. By 1876, 19 states (or about half the number of states in the union) had passed laws allowing school libraries to be developed.

In 1876, school libraries were enumerated along with public libraries in Public Libraries in the United States: Their History, Condition, and Management (U. S. Office of Education, Special Report), with 826 reported. However, during this time in many towns across country, the growing number of public libraries also served as the school library resource for the community.

By 1913, the. U. S. Office of Education reported about 10,000 public school libraries, but few contained more than 3,000 volumes. It really is in the early years of the 20th century that school libraries become more common, with both the American Library Association and the National Education Association establishing sections for school libraries, and the two organizations collaborating on standards.

In 1900, the first professionally trained school librarian, Mary Kingsbury, was appointed to manage the Erasmus High School library in Brooklyn. The second was Mary E. Hall, appointed in 1903 by the Girls’ High School in Brooklyn. Later, She was the first chairperson of the School Libraries Section, the precursor to today's American Association of School Librarians (AASL).

"Miss Mary A. Kingsbury, class of '99 [Pratt Institute Library School] has been appointed librarian of the Erasmus Hall High School of Brooklyn" (Library Journal, June, 1900). "This begins the history of professionally trained librarians managing school libraries in the United States" (Pioneers and Leaders in Library Services to Youth by Marilyn Lee Miller).

In England: (1578) Shrewsbury, England passed an ordinance stating that school should include “a library and a gallerie … furnished with all manner of books, mappes, spheres, instruments of astronomye and all other things appertyninge to learning which may either be given to the schools or procured with school money.” (Dorothy McGinnis, “Instructional Materials Centers—Something New?” California School Librarian, 34(1), 4-6 (November 1962))

A time-line of school library development 1900 Mary Kingsbury, librarian at Erasmus Hall High School in New York City, becomes the first professionally trained school librarian The School Libraries Section of ALA holds its first meeting The National Education Association (NEA) adopts Standard Library Organization and Equipment for Secondary Schools of Different Sizes. These first national standards define expectations that a professionally trained librarian should manage a centralized collection that included audiovisual resources.

1920 ALA adopts the 1918 NEA standards The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) becomes a division within ALA The U.S. Congress passes the National Defense Education Act, which funds major development of school libraries in the 1960s AASL and the Department of Audiovisual Instruction (DAVI) of NEA publishes Standards for School Library Programs, national guidelines that address the integration of library skills into classroom work AASL receives the Knapp Demonstration Project, a $1.13 million grant supporting a five-year demonstration project of exemplary school libraries.

1965 : The U.S. Congress passes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which supports funding of library resources : The DAVI of NEA becomes the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) : AASL begins publishing School Library Media Quarterly, the division's research journal : AASL and AECT publish Information Power: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs, national guidelines that define the mission of the library media program to "ensure that students and staff are effective users of ideas and information" (1988, 1). 1998: AASL and AECT publish Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning, national guidelines that set forth AASL's information literacy standards for student learning.

School libraries in India The development of libraries in Indian school can be traced back to the twentieth century. During the British Rule too, a good number of English schools had their own libraries. But the real development took place after our Independence. Due to the growing importance of education from the centre and the states, schools developed their libraries far and wide.

Libraries in KVs The birth of libraries in Kendriya Vidyalays can be traced back to the establishment of regimental schools in Since then the libraries of more than 1080 KVs have grown in different directions and in varied quantity and quality depends on many factors such as the number of sections, budgetary allocation, support/interest of the head of the institution, involvement of the librarian etc.

KV Libraries in the modern era A few Kendriya Vidaylayas have Their own newsletters Their own website Web opac facilities A good number of Kendriya Vidyalays have Automated their circulation operations A blog to speak on the net

A long way to go……. Let’s take the first step today… Thank You