INDIA STATUS PAPER ON PUBLIC LIBRARIES To discuss uneven policy provisions in various states in India

Content Background and Context – Needs Assessment- Objective Comparison of Public Libraries Act – Structure – Funding – Other Emerging Issues Recommendation

Background Ipsos Public Affairs teams around the world conduct research on public policy issues and on the attitudes and behaviors of citizens and consumers. We also conduct public opinion research and elite stakeholder, corporate, and media opinion research. Globally Ipsos has been associated with BMGF’s Global Libraries Program- India, Romania, and other countries India association with GL’s program of BMGF started in 2013 Ipsos has been the research partner for the baseline and currently carrying out a needs assessment in five states

Needs Assessment-Context The pilot implementation experience and recognition of differences in landscape of Public Libraries BMGF entrusted Ipsos the task of carrying out a needs assessment in five states – Bihar, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal – To understand & assess the prevalent library structures as it is at state levels – To understand the structural and budget provisions across the states and the various types of grants available (state- wise) – To understand what are the main priority areas of the libraries/library management committees (services or infrastructure)

Comparative Analysis of Act based on Review of Public Libraries Act for respective states- Bihar, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal Initial set of key informant interviews in New Delhi, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal that represent government and non government stakeholders

Enactment of law BiharKeralaTamil NaduUttar PradeshWest Bengal Year of commence ment So far, only 19 States of the Indian Union have successfully passed the library legislation

Public Libraries Structure- a comparison ParametersBiharKeralaTamil NaduUttar Pradesh West Bengal Has a Directorate of Public Libraries NoYes NoYes Structure Directorate have a separate Director, Deputy Director, Joint Director, at state level, followed by District Library Officer, and Librarians In Uttar Pradesh the Public Libraries are under the Secondary School Department and have Officer on Special Duty managing the charge of Public Libraries In Bihar Public Libraries are in the jurisdiction of State Library and Information Centre Authority In Kerala libraries came into being as part of social, political, education and literacy movement. The libraries are owned by people (now registered as a trust or society). Elected representatives are federated at Thesil, District and State Level. The libraries are affiliated to State / District / Thesil Council. Public libraries directly managed by the state are few – one in Trivandrum and the libraries in Malabar area

Funding Mechanism Uttar Pradesh No mention of funds provision in the act, state gives grants to district as per budget submitted Bihar Amount given by State Government as Grants, RRRLF grants, District Development Fund, MP/MLA fund, Other funds and donations West Bengal Local library authority maintains a library fund, contributions, gifts, and income from endowments made to local library authority Tamil Nadu Library cess- levied in form of surcharge- cess collected to be paid to local library authority by the corporation, user fee collection, patrons Kerala Library cess on property tax collected by local bodies, one per cent of the amount allotted for education in the State budget for the year, grants, contributions, and gifts

Public Libraries- Other aspects Grading of libraries (based on rotation and users enrollment) used as a basis for fund and staff allocation – Tamil Nadu and Kerala Use of RRRLF funds for capacity building and training of librarians Monthly monitoring by DLO and Library Inspector Guidelines for opening new libraries and opening of libraries in other public aggregation places such as hospital, passport offices, etc

Emerging issues No act in about half of the states Lack of uniformity in law, structure, and funding mechanism that is a key determinant for growth and strengthening of Public Libraries Need to capitalize the existing infrastructure, a large pool of human resource with a common vision for knowledge society

Recommendations Champion the cause of uniform Public Libraries Act that would lend a huge impetus to our efforts for strengthening Public Libraries A dedicated National Library and Information Network (NLIN) for pooling, sharing and promoting access. NLN could be linked to National Knowledge Network (NKN)

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