According to a recent study of Library Science, a common notion of the librarians about their own profession is revealed; which indicates lower self-esteem towards their profession. Most of the librarians believe that, they are not respected as a professional group. It also exposed the curriculum designed to educate new library science students on the history of libraries and librarianship, their connection to society, intellectual freedom, and the future of information dissemination. Yet it identified a disturbing theme: librarians are very insecure about their profession – so insecure that it has become a pervasive anxiety throughout the field of librarianship. While some insecurity results from the undesirable physical stereotype of librarians perpetuated by the popular media, library-literature is the real offender as it portrays the more serious crisis of professional insecurity, i.e., the feeling of not being valuable or valued by others. To make matters worse, newcomers to the library profession adopt this insecurity through their exposure to the literature of the field, thereby creating a vicious cycle.

The Historical Context
The study also offered numerous examples of library professionals lamenting their perceived poor status of the “…librarians are very insecure about their profession -so insecure that it has become a pervasive anxiety throughout the field of librarianship.” library field. Where did this concern with status begin? There had to be some impetus to not feeling valued. In this point we can refer for some fascinating possibilities in Richard E. Rubin’s book Foundations of Library and Information Science.

One possibility is the founding of the American Library Association (ALA) in 1876. Rubin states that this was an “important guidepost” as the creation of the ALA “substantially increases professional identity” and provides “librarianship with an identity outside the profession” (2000). These statements, while seeming to promote the benefits of the presence of the ALA to the profession, actually illustrate Rubin’s point of view (and potentially the point of view of the founders of the ALA): that the profession of librarianship did not currently have enough of an identity either inside or outside of the profession. By saying that the ALA was needed to increase professional identity, Rubin implies that the founders thought that the current professional identity was somehow lacking. Librarians of the time, impressed with the idea of being represented by their new professional association, may not have noticed the implied insult to their self-image, but simply internalized the idea that their profession was lacking a suitable identity. Perhaps now that the ALA was there for them, their profession would be more valued. But this kind of thinking reinforces the idea that librarianship was somehow not producing an acceptable self-image and was not already valued prior to the creation of the ALA.

Another possibility as to an initial source of librarians’ professional insecurity is Melvil Dewey. Considered a “prime force in the professionalization of librarianship” (Rubin 2000), Dewey contributed hugely to the field of librarianship. Yet he may also have contributed to the lack of a secure self-image when he wrote “The time has come when a librarian may without assumption speak of his occupation as a profession” (Rubin 2000). Although he seemed to be trying to promote librarianship as a profession, his statement implies that for some, unnamed reason, before that “time” had come, librarians could not call their occupation a profession. Had not librarianship previously been a true profession?

The Current Context
A huge amount of professional uncertainty is passed on through library literature. When I read in Harris, Hannah, and Harris’ book Into the Future that “The librarian of the electronic age could become a valued professional” (Harris et al. 1998), I think that librarians are not currently valued professionals. When suggesting that a librarian can become a valued professional, supported evidence is needed to show that the librarian was not already a valued professional.

Professional insecurity is also spread throughout the profession by the fact that librarians spend much time and energy in an effort to connect to each other through writing and professional organizations. Professional organizations abound and membership is highly recommended by library science educators. Yet George Bobinski wonders in his article, Is the Library Profession “The three-year existence of a column – in the main journal for the profession published by the ALA – that focused solely on the image of librarians is a prime example of the obsessive nature with which librarians undertake the issue of their image.” Over-Organized? about the “proliferation of library associations” (2000). Bobinski declares that librarians spend “too much time talking and writing to ourselves” in professional library organizations and publications. Since a good number of these written communications focus on the lack of status of the library profession, how to improve librarians’ status, image stereotypes of librarians, and similar themes these writings are a supremely effective way for members of the library profession to obsess about their status anxiety.

A prime example of this obsession over status anxiety is seen in the regular column introduced by American Libraries entitled ” Image: How They Are Seeing Us”. This column continued from January 1985 through 1988 and “highlighted representations of librarians and their work from various media” (Engle 1998). The three-year existence of a column – in the main journal for the profession published by the ALA – that focused solely on the image of librarians is a prime example of the obsessive nature with which librarians undertake the issue of their image.

This obsession with image is detrimental to librarians’ perception of their professional status. Many articles in library journals record instances and complain about examples (from popular media) of the stereotypical image of the librarian as an old spinster with a bun and sensible shoes. But this obsession with the physical-image stereotype is partly responsible for the professional anxiety that plagues librarianship. As Roma Harris points out “librarians’ self-consciousness with their image is counterproductive especially when its leads to self-depreciation of their profession” (Rubin 2000). It seems that physical-image issues are at the root of professional insecurity and need to be eliminated for librarians to improve their perceptions of their professional status. In relating a fellow librarian’s experience with image stereotypes, Angelynn King comments that “having internalized [other people's stereotypes] himself he’s making [the stereotypes] worse” (1999). Obsession with image and internalization of negative stereotypical images, have caused librarians to doubt the worthiness of the profession as a whole. It’s not the stereotype that’s the problem; it’s the obsession with the stereotype.

In an extended profile of Lloyd E. Cotsen, Basbanes addresses the intricacies of collecting on a grand scale. Cotsen, whose fortune derives from Neutrogena cosmetics, built a vast collection of illustrated children’s books in more than 30 languages that now forms the Cotsen Children’s Library at
Princeton. He discusses how the idea of building a research collection evolved, and how, as other collectors before him have done, he began purchasing entire libraries: “When I buy a whole collection, I am buying the intelligence that went into creating it. . . . I am happy to pay that premium.”

Basbanes also touches upon university-donor relations, corporate history and librarianship, while noting the contributions of booksellers. As he observes, “The true value of a collection lies in the wisdom and scope of the objects as a whole, not in the price tag of individual items.”Libraries and private collectors alike rely upon booksellers to build their collections, and Patience & Fortitude includes numerous sketches of well-known contemporary dealers. These include Peter B. Howard, owner of Serendipity Books in Berkeley, who observes, “I am extremely mistrustful of bookstores that are as neat as a pin. . . .” There are also portraits of the family-run New York City landmarks Strand and Argosy bookstores, as well as profiles of Jewish emigre booksellers Bernard Rosenthal and Lucien Goldschmidt and several European dealers. Basbanes also records meetings with bookish writers Umberto Eco, Penelope Fitzgerald and Robert Coover, as well as illustrators Maurice Sendak and Barry Moser.

For all its ambition and scope, Patience & Fortitude is, nonetheless, only a partial success. The first part of the book, on library history and the great libraries of the Old World, is heavy going and superficial. Basbanes is at his most engaging in the profiles of individual booksellers, collectors and librarians. Less rewarding is his discussion of issues facing libraries today — preservation, access, remote storage, digitization and architecture among others — where a critical focus seems dissipated by the journalistic narrative style and frequent recitation of financial statistics.

There are frequent typographical errors throughout Patience & Fortitude, as well as some errors of fact (for example, the “exceedingly scarce” suppressed first printing of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland dates from 1865, not 1864, as Basbanes has it). Still, despite its shortcomings, Patience & Fortitude contains much of interest and is welcome as an account of the changing world of rare books at the dawn of the 21st Century.

Illiteracy is a major hindrance to the programme of human development, and the universality of the problem has led the UNESCO to declare the year 1990 “The International Year of Literacy.” To focus the whole world’s attention to it, an international education conference on the theme was organized in March 1990 in Thailand by UNESCO in collaboration with UNICEF, UNDP, and the World Bank. In doing so, UNESCO wanted to draw the attention of the whole world focusing on illiteracy, so that it can be wiped out by the year 2000.2

The situation of adult illiteracy in SAARC countries

The South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) was formally launched in Dhaka in December 1985.3 The heads of seven Asian countries jointly pledged to work together for a common future. Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka are the members of SAARC, which comprises one-fifth of the world’s population. Table 1 shows the distribution of illiterate population in the SAARC countries.

TABLE 1 . Illiterate population in the SAARC countries

Illiteracy in SAARC countries constitute a serious socio-economic and political problem. The figure for some individual countries is as high as 60% or more. Table 2 shows the percentage of male and female illiterate population in the SAARC countries.
TABLE 2. Situation of illiterate population in the SAARC countries in 1995 ¹

CAUSES OF ADULT ILLITERACY

In this paper, adult illiteracy means to cover the population of 15 years and above and who can not read, write or do elementary arithmetic. The causes of adult illiteracy are many. Only the major ones, i.e. economic and socio-historical causes, are highlighted here.

a. Economic causes

The economics of the countries of South Asia are among the largest and poorest in the world. They belong to the group classified by the World Bank as the ‘low-income countries’: their per-capita income is about 25% of the average for all the less-developed countries.⁴ A comparative analysis of GDP of some developed .and SAARC countries is shown in Table 3, which shows how the SAARC countries are economically weak.

TABLE 3. GDP of some developed and SAARC countries in 1995⁵

NA= Not available

Poverty, slow economic growth rate, low per-capita income, unequal distribution of wealth, unemployment, and heavy dependence on the external assistance are some of the common economic problems of the SAARC countries.⁶ All the SAARC countries are deeply engaged in solving the problems of food, hunger, cloth, etc., and/or required to give maximum attention to solve these problems.

2. Socio-historical causes

Before the advent of Europeans in this subcontinent, emperors were the custodian of the society. Then Madrasha and Maktabs were the centre of education. The arrival of the Europeans drastically changed the way of life of the people of the Indo-Pak subcontinent. The white man superimposed his way of life and culture upon that of the indigenous culture. To understand the white man’s new culture and, of course, his government and language, the people had to acquire the ‘magic’ of writing and reading. To do this, a new system of education, the formal school system, was introduced by the missionaries and later on by the colonial government. But the people did not gladly accept the education policy of the Europeans. Some people, especially Muslims, thought that to learn English is sin. The people who acquired the skills and mastery of reading and writing through the alien education system became known as an educated or literate person, but those who failed to acquire the skills of reading and writing remained illiterate.

ROLE OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN ERADICATING ILLITERACY

The traditional public library system in the SAARC countries has not yet been able to satisfy the needs of the neo-literates by providing adequate and suitable reading materials. Although most people in the SAARC countries live in rural areas, most public libraries are, however, located in urban areas.

Even the public library system has not made any meaningful impact on the population living in urban areas. This is so because in the first place public libraries do not stock suitable reading materials for the neo-literates. Secondly, no conscious efforts arc made to relate the public library system to literacy campaigns.

In the SAARC countries, public libraries arc not well organized, and their collections arc also not rich. As a result, the libraries can not meet the requirements of the literate population. As for the new-literates, where they exist, they arc mostly left to fend for themselves.

Obviously because of their inadequacies and funding, the public libraries in the SAARC countries have not done much to help neo-literates to retain their literacy. This situation can be partially overcome if the governments of the SAARC countries tackle the problem seriously and with a sense of purpose. During this decade, public libraries must review, and the governments of the SAARC countries must be prepared to allocate more money to their public libraries to enable them to contribute meaningfully to eradicate illiteracy.

NA= Not available
¹⁺ Data for the rest of countries are not available, so the information is not presented here.

PUBLIC LIBRARY SITUATION IN BANGLADESH
The area of Bangladesh, which came into existence as an independent state on 16 December 1971, is 143,998 sq. km.⁷ The public library movement in Bangladesh dates back to the mid-19th century. In 1854, four non-government public libraries were established in the important district headquarters of this region. These four libraries arc: Woodburn Public library (Bogra), Jessore Public Library, Barisal Public Library, and Rangpur Public Library. But the establishment of government public libraries started with the opening of the Bangladesh Central Public Library in 1958.⁸

The Government of Bangladesh has been trying to develop public libraries in the country. During the first, second, third and fourth five-year plans, public libraries have received an increasing attention. The government allocation front the first to fourth five-year plans is shown in Table 5.

TABLE 5. Government development allocation from 1st to 4th five-year plans
(figures in lac) ⁹‘¹²

Till now, the Government of Bangladesh has allocated an amount of Taka 22,49,01,000 for the development of public libraries and the training programme for the library personnel. At present, 66 government¹³ and 883 non-government¹⁴ public libraries are in existence in the country. In spite of all these efforts, till now, the government did not take much initiatives to eradicate illiteracy through public libraries, although public libraries can play a vital role in eradicating illiteracy from the country.

THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT AND NGOS

The government, however, took a programme named INFEP (Integrated Non-Formal Education Programme) in 1991 to educate the country’s illiterate persons. This organization, located in Dhaka, had been converted into a Directorate of Non-Formal Education (DNFE). DNFE has set up 735 Gram Shikkha Milon Kendras (Village Continuing Education Centres) in 69 thana project areas. DNFE considers these centres as rural libraries, which maintain follow-up materials, national dailies, weeklies, monthlies, wall magazines, a radio, and indoor sport items, like ludo, carom, etc. A full-time librarian is appointed for each centre. To supervise the learning activities and operation of the library, a supervisor is assigned for every ten libraries. Other than helping neo-literates, each librarian is entrusted with the responsibility of making ten literates a year.¹⁵

In Bangladesh, some NCOs have been playing a vital role in eradicating illiteracy by organizing resource centres at the community level. These include: Community Development Library (CDL), Action aid Bangladesh, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), Gono Shahajjyo Sangstha, Rangpur- Dinajpur Rural Services (RDRS), etc. BRAC has already established some rural libraries on an experimental basis, and has plans to establish 350 libraries in the rural areas by the end of 1998.¹⁶

The Community Development Library (CDL) maintains 30 Rural Information Resource Centres (RIRCs) throughout the country. One of the main objectives of these RIRCs is to provide facilities for continuing education of the local community. The RIRCs organize seminars, workshops, and discussion meetings every month, followed by video shows. Students from the community are regularly taken to the RIRCs for orientation visits, to accustom them to continue to visit in future.¹⁷

The Library Association of Bangladesh (LAB) has already been working vigorously to create awareness and active interest among the various sections of people, including policy-makers, and has been making all-out efforts to socialize and materialize the concept of grameen library and information centres, through organizing meetings with policy-makers, organizing seminars, meeting the people concerned with the development of the rural community, and writing articles and disseminating these through seminars and the newsletter  Upatta. A 7-day training programme on how to provide information support to the village people was organized in January 1996 to train 60 young people of three villages.

With the support of UNESCO, three gramecn library and information centres have been organized and maintained jointly by the Bangladesh National Scientific and Technical Documentation Centre (BANSDOC) and the Library Association of Bangladesh (LAB) in three villages (Hajipara, Kakrain, and Tetulia) of Dhamrai thana, about 40 km from the Dhaka City.¹⁷ LAB had also organized a one-day National Seminar on “Development of a Grameen Library System for Providing Information Support to the Rural People of Bangladesh.” A concept paper on a gramecn library system was presented by Mr. M. Shamsul Islam Khan, the President of LAB, at the seminar.¹⁶

ACTIONAID is an international development organization based in London. It has both urban and rural programmes, and most are centred around the samity. In the education sector, this organization promotes both non-formal primary education for children, as well as adult literacy classes, stressing functional and practical literacy.

The Rangpur-Dinajpur Rural Service (RDRS) is one of the largest rural development agencies in Bangladesh. It has been working in 28 thanas of six northern districts. It also works for Non-Formal Primary Education (NFPE) which meets the needs of non-school-going children. NFPE is a national initiative of the government’s Primary and Mass Education Division, funded by the World Bank.

The Gonoshahjjo Sangstha (GSS) is a well-reputed NGO working in Bangladesh in eradicating illiteracy and in other fields. It has two programmes in this regard. These arc: (i) Adolescent Literacy Centre (ALC), and (ii) Adult Literacy Programme. The Adolescent Education Programme of CSS commenced in 1993 with a suitable two-year curriculum in 434 groups. This programme is aimed at helping those in the 11-15-year age group who have cither dropped-out, or have never been exposed to formal (or any) school system, to acquire any literacy and numerical skills. In phase II (1994/5-1996/7), there were 2170 groups in operation with approximately 30 students per group. It was found from experience that students did not achieve learning targets. So, the curriculum was extended to three years. For the programme to work properly the community is encouraged, through active participation of village committees, to participate in decision-making and cost-sharing in setting up these centres.

The Adult Literacy Programme was started since 1983. It patronizes 46 adult literacy centres, and also maintains 300 Gram Shikha Milon Kendras of DNFPE (Directorate of Non-Formal Primary Education). If a centre is continued for two years, a library or reading centre is established there. At present this NGO has set up 234 reading centres for students, adult persons and others. This centre is open to all, and they also supply 60 books and magazines per year for collection development.

Moreover, the Islamic Foundation is also trying to increase the literacy rate among the rural people by the help of mosque-based libraries. In this regard, the Foundation offers training to the Imams of mosques.

PROGRAMME OF ACTION

The adult literacy programmes and policy-makers in Bangladesh have so far virtually left public libraries out of their scheme of things. All their efforts and the huge amount of money being pumped into their literacy programmes have been and will continue to be of little consequence so long as they fail to make suitable reading or learning materials available to their neo-literates through a well-conccivcd rural library system. However, to eradicate illiteracy from Bangladesh, I would like to emphasize the following programme of action at the national level:

1.      A public library grid should be established all over the country with their branches in all the villages; the establishment of libraries for all villages should be completed within five years.

2.     NGOs may take a vigorous and integrated programme jointly with the government to establish and maintain village libraries and information resource centres. A favourable government policy relating to library may encourage NGOs in this regard.

3.    The village library should run a night school and impart adult education and literacy. The librarian should be entrusted with the responsibility of creating reading habits among the village people, especially among the children and school-going students.

4.      Separate budget should be allocated for library service under the Adult Education Programme Funds. In this regard, the government should give more funds for the development of pubic libraries.

5.     The Primary and Mass Literacy Directorate, Non-Formal Education Directorate, Rural Development and Co-operatives Division, Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD), Islamic Foundation Bangladesh, and the Social Welfare Directorate may prepare their own action plan for using their own potentiality in the promotion of mass education and mass literacy.

6.     The Primary and Mass Education Division may also consider to institute a separate plan for using the maktabs as feeder schools where the Imams and Muazzins can teach children and which may be helpful to increase the literacy rates.

7.     The government should set up publishing houses to produce cheap, plentiful and suitable reading materials which can be distributed free of charge that may be helpful to be literate.

CONCLUSION

The Government of Bangladesh has given top priority to mass literacy. So, different activities and programmes for promoting literacy are being implemented through the government agencies and NGOs. The government should take necessary steps to involve public libraries in the literacy movement. Public library services should be strengthened, and support services, like the radio, television and film vans, should be introduced in the adult education programmes. Without these ancillary services, the neo-literates will soon relapse into illiteracy.

References

1.     Unesco statistical yearbook 1996. Paris: Uncsco, 1996

2.     Kedem KA. Libraries as partrers in the fight to eradicate illiteracy in sub-Saharan Africa.  IFLA ] 1990;16(4): 447-57

3.     India Q 1996;1&2:73

4.    Asian Development Bank. Key indicators of developing Asian and Pacific countries, 1991:20

5.    The World Bank. World development report 1997. New York: Oxford, 1997: 214-5

6.    Naqash NA. SAARC: challenges and opportunities. New Delhi: Ashish, 1994:11

7.    Statistical yearbook of Bangladesh, 1995. Dhaka: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 1995

8.    Ahmad SU. Librarianship and the state of libraries in Bangladesh. Dhaka : Lutfun Nessah Begum, 1994:53

9.    Bangladesh. Planning Commission. 1st Five Year Plan, 1973-78

10.   Bangladesh. Planning Commission. 2nd Five Year Plan, 1980-85

11.   Bangladesh. Planning Commission. 3rd Five Year Plan, 1985-90

12.   Bangladesh. Planning Commission. 4th Five Year Plan, 1990-95

13.   Bangladesh. Department of Public Libraries. Bangladesh Central Public Library: introducing. Dhaka, “1996

14.   National Book Centre. Pathagar nirdeshika (Directory of libraries) Dhaka: National Book Centre, 1995

15.   Bangladesh. Directorate of Non-Formal Education. Let there be light. Dhaka: Directorate of Non-formal Education, 1995:9

16. Khan MSI. Development of a grameen library system for providing information support to the rural people of Bangladesh. Paper presented at the Seminar on Development of a Cramcen Library System for Providing Information Support to the Rural People of Bangladesh, Dhamrai, 2 May, 1997. Dhaka: The Library Association of Bangladesh, 1997.

17.   Harun-ur-Rashid. Community information services in rural Bangladesh. DevPrac 1996;6(4):358-62

Dr. Md. Hanif Uddin

Assistant Professor ,Dept. of Information Science and Library Management,
University of Dhaka
Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh

]]> http://infosciencetoday.org/type/research-type/role-of-libraries-in-eradicating-illiteracy-in-bangladesh-with-special-reference-to-the-situation-in-the-saarc-countries.html/feed 0 http://infosciencetoday.org/type/articles/the-national-library-of-bangladesh-at-a-glance.html http://infosciencetoday.org/type/articles/the-national-library-of-bangladesh-at-a-glance.html#comments Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:12:11 +0000 admin http://infosciencetoday.org/?p=5 1. Some useful Information

c) Library Timings:- Saturday to Wednesday : 9 A.M to 8 P.M
Thursday : 9 A.M to 2 P.M
Friday and other Government holidays closed.

d) Access:- Reading rooms are open to all users. Regular users are advised to take Library Membership. The Library follows closed systems stacks.

e) Membership:- Any bonafide citizen of Bangladesh subject to submission of  the duly filled in prescribed form can have Membership at the fee of Taka 15. Application forms are available at all reading rooms counters or from Librarian. Reader’s Identity Cards are issued after two working days of submission of (lie form Citizens of other countries may also use the library upon showing some necessary papers and recommendations from
appropriate authorities.

f) Lending: Lending facilities are yet to be introduced except special cases for Libraries Institutions and Government Offices .

g) Special bibliographies are compiled for potential research scholars on request.

2. History:

Alter the partition of the subcontinent in 1947 the Government of Pakistan established the National Library of Pakistan in Karachi and a provincial book deposit branch of the Pakistan National Library in Dhaka in 1967. In fact that book deposit branch was the embryo of (lie National library of Bangladesh which came into being after the independence of the country in 1971. After the Liberation War of Bangladesh it was keenly felt by all quarters that a National Library is indispensable for (lie newborn nation. Considering the necessity and importance, the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh resolved to set up the National Library of Bangladesh in Dhaka. The Library started functioning with the manpower and resource materials inherited from the Provincial Book Deposit Branch in Dhaka. Later on, in 1973 the two national organizations namely (i) The National Archives of Bangladesh and (ii) The National Library of Bangladesh were merged under the name of the Directorate of Archives & Libraries under the Sports and Culture Division. Ministry of Education, ‘the Directorate was first housed in two separate rented places first at 106 Central Road and then at 372 Elephant road, Dhaka. A new building for the National Library of Bangladesh was built in 1985 and the Library was shifted to its new place called The Jutiya Granthi.igur Bliavcin (National Library Building) at 32 Justice S.M.Murshed Sarani, Agargaon, Sher-e-BangIa Nagar. Dhaka-1207. The National Library of Bangladesh is currently run by the Directorate of Archives and Libraries under the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. The National Library is the legal depository of all new books and other printed materials published in the country under the Copy Right Law
(Modified in 2000) of Bangladesh. 3. Organization and Professional set up: The National Library of Bangladesh is one of the two components of the Directorate of Archives and Libraries under the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. The Director of the Directorate exercises the administrative and financial powers delegated to the Heads of the Directorate of the Government. The National Library consists of the following four sections:

a) Bibliography Section:
b) Processing, Maintenance and Reader Service Section (Library Section);
c) Microfilm Section (Reprographic Section) and
d) Computer Section (Library Automation).

The above 4 sections are manned by 7 (seven) class-I Gazetted Officers and 34 staff members most of whom are technical. The total allocated strength of manpower is 41 as follows :

Chief Bibliographer/Deputy Director (Library)                     1
Bibliographer (Acqui -1, Compi-1, Publi- Ref.-l)                 3
Assistant Director (Lib.)                                                   1
Microfilm Officer                                                             1
Programming Officer                                                       1
Class III Technical/semi tech. staff member                     27
Class IV Staff member                                                     7
Grand total =                                                                 41

4. Functions:

Following are the major functions of Bangladesh National Library:

a) To acquire books and other publications published in the country under (lie
copyright law of the land and to preserve them permanently;
b) To compile and publish National Bibliography. Abstract and Indexes to the
newspaper articles. Directory of Publishers, Union Catalogues etc;
c) To maintain and develop a national collection of library materials;
d) to provide various services to the concerned users;
e) To provide modem facilities of library services to the users including quick and easy retrieval through the automation of the collection;
f) To preserve the library and information materials in modem and Scientific manner
g) to act as country’s international bibliographical documentation centre including the distribution of ISBN;
h) Provides informative assistance/guidelines to the Government
Professional Associations in formulating country’s Library Act, Policy, and in planning and promoting publishing industries.

5. Acquisition Policy :
Bangladesh National Library acquires through purchase, donations etc. books, journals etc in accordance with the following principles:
a) Books &. Journals on Bangladesh published anywhere in the  world;
b) Books by Bangladeshi authors published abroad;
c) Contemporary hooks by Nobel Prize winners, the national level best books of other countries;
d) Standard books on Asian countries and on other countries also;
e) Carefully selected latest books on all brandies of knowledge;
f) Standard reference books:
g) Biographies of eminent personalities of the world:
h) Donation of Institutional / personal collection of books of national level personalities.

6. Collection:

The Collection of Bangladesh National Library is the nation’s pride. The principal characteristic of its collection is that it covers all major disciplines and branches of human knowledge i.e. Literature. Cultural Heritage, History. Arts. Archaeology, Science and Technology. Medical Science. Engineering, Economics, Agriculture, Library and Information Management, Development Administration. Environment, Woman affairs. HRD, etc and is preserved in scientific manner. In addition to country’s all
most all publications the library has a large collection of foreign representational publications especially on Asian countries and more specific related to South Asian Studies. The library enriches its collection by various means i.e. acquiring publication under copyright act, purchase, institutional/personal donations, complimentary copies etc. the following are the National Library’s collection data up to September 2003.

Total Number of Books and Bound Volumes – 5,00,000

Current Bengali dailies’ titles – 55
Current Bengali weekly titles – 75
Current Bengali periodicals titles – 105
English dailies” titles – 6
weekly – 10
periodicals – 20
Number of Maps – 3000
Microfilm – 60 Rolls
Microfiche – 20(1985-93)
Number of preserved Bengali dailies’ titles – 165
weekly – 313
periodicals – 627
English dailies – 25
weekly – 36
Periodicals – 235
Number of National Bibliography published – 11 issues
from 197 2 to 1991
Index, Abstracts etc. Published – 22 Nos.
Library maintains special collections for researchers.

7. International Systems followed:

National Library follows the following international systems for its technical
processing:

a) Dewey Decimal Classification -20th edn.
b) Anglo American Cataloguing Rules 2nd edn
c) Sears list of subject heading – 13th edn.
d) CDS/ISIS software.

8. Physical facilities of Library Building

Area of Library Building       -       2.36 acre

Construction area             -       104880 sft

Carpet area of Library Building -      61.555 sft

Stack area                     -       48.223 sft

Reading room               -      8000 sft

Exhibition room              -      3200

A.C. Auditorium seating capacity-     300 seats

The maintenance of the building, electrical appliance, air-conditioning and security measures are carried out by the concerned Departments of the government.

9. User’s Services

a) Reader Service: Provides reader’s services. It has three reading rooms (one for Bangla materials and one for English and one for Newspapers) covering 8000 sft space area. The Library maintains both card and sheaf catalogue systems.

b) Reference Service: Reference service to individual and departments, institutions are rendered in the light of requirement .

c) Special Bibliography: National Library provides special bibliography compilation service on request to the potential research scholars of various universities / institutions.

d) Lending: Lending of books to the library members is yet to be introduced. However government office , libraries, institutions as exception can avail the lending facilities for official purpose.

e) Photocopy Service: Members of the Library can have photocopy service for research purpose at the charge of TK. 1.00 per impression.

f) ISBN Service: For standardizing Bangladesh’s books internationally, ISBN distribution service is provided to the concerned publishers and individual authors from the National Library. So far ISBN has been distributed to 375 publishers and for 6500 books.
g) Microfilm Service: Microfilm reading services on some selected subject and areas are given to the concerned research scholars in the light of the requirement. One of the important services to the users is map reading service, which is given under special arrangement.

10. International Liaison:

The National Library of Bangladesh is the country’s professional national institution for IFLA. Asia Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU). Conference of Directors of National Libraries in Asia and Ocenia (CDNLAO).

11. Modern facilities added:

In order to modernize the National Library & its services, the Government of Bangladesh has recently added the following modem equipments and facilities to the Library:

a) Modern computer unit with CDS/ISIS software with server & terminal;
b) One modern Microfilm Unit including Microfilm Reader d Printer & Reader;
c) One fax machine;
d) One photocopy machine;
e) One modern lift.

12. Future Plans :

a) To provide an Advisory Council for the National Library of Bangladesh.

b) To arrange to fill up all the technical vacant posts.

c) To render the National Library a very modem international centre of learning by extending services and adopting new measures.

The communication of ideas is one of the most significant achievements in the history of cultural development of the human race. The library, however, is only one of many means of human communication (Johnson,1973: 1-6) and is considered an important centre for disseminating knowledge. The library development in Bangladesh is closely related with the history of library development in Indian sub-continent. “The history of library movement in Indian sub-continent can be traced from the history of ancient Indian libraries furnished by the travel diary of the famous Chinese traveler Fa-Hien, who visited India in 399 AD” (Misra, 1979: 9). The British settled and stayed on for nearly two hundred years in Indian sub-continent, initially, for the interest of trading. But, subsequently, they started to establish academic institutions and libraries in a small scale (Kabir, 1987: 6). The Public Library in Calcutta, established in 1835 through private initiatives, is the pioneer of the modern libraries in India. In 1902 it was named the Imperial Library and it became the National Library of India in 1948 (Haq, 1981: 171). According to Ahmad (1987: 22-23), “before the mid 1800’s most libraries in Bangladesh were privately owned and were available to certain groups. Years of efforts by librarians and other concerned citizens have radically changed this narrow role of libraries and have made the library wide spread and vital service institution. In a modern society library is characterised as a growing organism (Ranganathan, 1 960: 1 8). This idea also influenced in the growth of different type of libraries in Bangladesh. There are four major kinds of libraries in Bangladesh from its history: (a Public Library (b) Academic Library (c) Special Library and (d) National Library.

Public Library (Early history)

A public library is not simply a place where books, journals and research materials are stored for public use, it is also a cultural centre whose aim is to enhance human knowledge. This is done through a wide range of activities. A public library has rightly been called people’s university. In Bangladesh the public libraries were first established in the middle of the nineteenth century. Khan (1984:127) says in this context:

There is no doubt that the idea of establishment of public libraries is
essentially western, and the spread of the public library movement in this part of the world is the direct result of the impact of western culture.

The Calcutta Public Library was established in 1835 while all the Non-Govemment public libraries were established after 1850. An active force behind the establishment of public libraries in Indian sub-continent was the Public Library Act of England of August 14, 1850.

Just one year after the enactment of Public Library Act in UK, the first public library of the Bangladesh was established at Jessore in 1851 (Alam, 1991: 23). Thereafter, three other public libraries—Wood burn Public Library at Bogra, Barishal Public Library at Barisal and Rangpur Public Library at Rangpur were established in 1854 (Khan, 1984: 128). The movement got further impetus with the establishment of Public Libraries at Rajshahi (1871), Dhaka (1874), Comilla (1885), Pabna (1890), Noakhali (1897), Sylhet (1897), Chittagong (1904), Cox’s Bazaar (1906), Munshiganj (1908), Rangpur (1909), Kishoregonj (1909), Kushtia (1954), Faridpur (1914), Khulna (1914), Dinajpur (1930) and Mymensingh (1930) and these are still somehow functioning (Alam, 1991: 23).

However, the momentum of this enthusiastic start was not sustained. All of these libraries, mentioned above were generally established by one or more philanthropists and supported by public subscriptions and assisted by small financial grants either from the Government or local zaminders. The condition of these libraries was not very good. Most of these libraries were housed either rented or loaned quarters. There was no continued and consistent support, either from the Government or local bodies (Khan, 1984: 128). “With the introduction of the Local Government Act in 1885 and its subsequent amendment in 1919, the local Government agencies (like Zilla Board and Municipalities) were entrusted with the responsibility of establishing and managing libraries. Since the task was not mandatory, there was little concern beyond occasional financial support from such bodies” (Alam, 1991: 23). As a result, even a long established library could not flourish, but managed to survive somehow at that time.

Many reasons may be attributed to this slow progress of libraries. The library establishment and organization was not the responsibility of the Government or local council, they were rather voluntary or private enterprises in nature and as such inconsistent in operation. Bangladesh, therefore, had inherited an unorganized library system in its beginning.

Pakistan Period (1947-71)

After the independence of Pakistan on 14th August, 1947 (the eastern wing was called East Pakistan, which is now Bangladesh) found herself without many essentials for her existence and further development. “In the field of libraries she started only with the University Library at Dhaka which was established in 1920. The condition of other libraries at that time was very poor. On the other hand Bangladesh (the then East Pakistan) lost her share of the collections of the Imperial Library at Calcutta. As a result, it took over a decade to establish only one library in Bangladesh after partition. Bangladesh to mention it again at that time (1947-70), as one of the provinces of Pakistan, was dependent on the total national policy which planned development. A six year development plan undertaken in 1951 but abandoned in 1955 to be replaced by the First Five Year Plan 1955-60 was the first attempt in that direction” (Khan, 1984: 129). The foundation of modern public libraries in Bangladesh, was been laid a century later, with the laying of the foundation stone of the Central Public Library at Dhaka in 1954 (Parker, 1979: 49). During the first plan period (1955-60) of the erstwhile Pakistan, efforts were made to develop the public library system in the country on the basis of the recommendations made by an Australian Library consultant Mr. L C Key in 1955 (Mannan,1990: 114). Key’s recommendations also included the setting up of three Divisional Government Public Libraries at Chittagong, Khulna and Rajshahi in Bangladesh, as the first step towards building up a library network throughout the country. In 1958, the Central Public Library at Dhaka was opened to the public. During the subsequent plan periods the library network was expanded to the divisional level and proposals were made to establish some Government libraries and to improve the sub-divisional libraries as well. The establishment of 100 libraries at Thana headquarters was also proposed in the Third Plan of Pakistan (1965-70). In 1969, the Government set up a committee named East Pakistan Library Development Committee to consider the development of institutional (school, college, etc.) libraries as well. However, whatever efforts were made during that period were stalled by the out break of the war of Bangladesh liberation in 1971 (Mannan, 1990:114).

During the period of 1947 to 1971, about 80 new public libraries were established in addition to 25 libraries established earlier. Moreover, Libraries and Information Centres of the Pakistan Council for National Integration of the Central Ministry of Information in the major districts and the Bureau of National Reconstruction (BNR) of the Provincial Information Department were responsible for circulating mostly Government publications. Till the emergence of Bangladesh, the country had about 175 public libraries and information centres. Most of them, were Non-Governmental, situated in Dhaka City or in other district headquarters. (Alam, 1991: 24).

Post Liberation Period (1972)

According to UNESCO manifesto issued in 1949 and revised in 1972 the Public Library is a product of modern democracy and practical demonstration of democracy’s faith in universal education as a life long process. “It emphasizes that: (a) the public library should be established under the clear mandate of law; (b) it should be maintained wholly from public fund; (c) there should be no direct charge for any of its services; and (d) it should be open for free and equal use by all members of the community, irrespective of age, sex, religion, language, status or level of education” (Rahman, 1993: 171). After the independence of Bangladesh, a new phase of library movement started with new inspiration to achieve UNESCO’s manifesto by a group of educationists and social workers. At that time, the country faced numerous problems which required immediate solution, including reconstruction in every aspect of the national life. In order to systematize the country, the Government had to wait a couple of years before lunching the first Five Year Plan in 1973. The organization of the library system was also included in the plan layout. In Bangladesh there are two broad categories of public libraries: (a) Government Public Libraries and (b) Non- Government Public Libraries. As the Government Public Libraries was under the control of the education department of the then Pakistan, so in 1973, for inclusion in the first five year plan (1973-78) of Bangladesh, a broad based Library Development Committee (divided into a number of sub- committees) was constituted by the Ministry of Education for over-all development of libraries and library services all over the country.

According to Siddique (1985:12-13), “the Public Library Sub- committee, possibly due to paucity of funds, could not recommend all the projects which were recommended earlier by a Advisory Committee for inclusion of a scheme in the Fourth Five Year Plan (1970-75). But the committee recommended only the following projects for implementation as the first phase of the plan:

— Development of five Government Public Libraries;

— Development of ten government aided District Public
Libraries;

— Establishment of Library Training Institute at Dhaka;

— Establishment of 4 pilot projects for Rural Library Service;

— Rehabilitation of the Central Public Library, Dhaka;

— Construction of a new building for Chittagong Public
Library; and

— Establishment of Rajshahi Public Library.”