Chapter 2

Library Legislation
 C H A P T E R - II

LIBRARY LEGISLATION

Library Legislation in U.K.

In England, the first library Act was passed in 1850 ^ The main features
of the act may be summed up as under :

1. It was permissive and not mandatory.

2. Libraries should be set up for every town having a population as over

10,000. The cost of the library should not exceed the amount collected
at the half-a-penny rate.

3. No amount was provided for the purchase of books, as books were

expected to be donated to the library.

The act was amended in 1855, raising rate to a penny. An amount

was provided for purchase of books and periodicals. Any parish having
a population of 5000 or more could adopt the Act. The Act was further
amended in 1866 and 1892.

In the meantime, in 1882 the first children's library was established.

Between 1880 and 1898 all the authorities adopted the Act. In 1892 the
numerous Acts were consolidated and amended in 1893 extending its op-
eration to urban areas. The libraries operation Act of 1901 and 1919 were
passed.
^Munford, W.A. : Penny rate aspects of british Public Library History 1850- 1950. London, 1951,
p. 26.

26
 Boroughs and urban districts were brought under the act. The PubHc
Library Act of 1919 abolished rate limitation and allowed its adoption
by county councils. Two outstanding benefactors who contributed to the
development of public libraries in UK were John Passmore Edwards and
Andrew Carnegie. The former was a newspaper proprietor who produced
buildings for 20 libraries mostly in Carnwall and London whereas Andrew
Carnegie gave help to 230 towns in England and Wales, 50 in Scotland and
47 in Ireland, so that when he died in 1919, 380 separate libraries buildings
were associated with his name.

Carnegie UK Trust was founded in 1913. This had great influence on

further development of pubhc library service in Great Britain.

A committee was appointed in 1924 under the Chairmanship of Sir F.

Kenyon. It reported in 1927. The main features of the report were :

i. Cooperation between existing authorities on a voluntary

basis.
ii. A system of co-ordination based on the national central
library. It should act as a central book store and as a link
between the libraries.
iii. A number of regional libraries, each would be the largest in
the region and would stock rare books and historical records.
Small libraries to borrow books from the regional library. ^

In 1937, the School Library Association appointed the McColvin com-

mittee. It submitted report in 1942. It pointed out in its survey the
^Murison, W.J. The public library - its origins, purpose and significance. Eds. London, 1988, p. 76

27
deficiencies in library administration, the unsatisfactory nature of the lo-
cal government framework, lack of control, direction for efficient running
of library units.

In 1957 a white paper on local Government was pubUshed. It related

mostly to the distribution of their functions. In 1957, the Minister of Edu-
cation carried out his promise to appoint a committee under the Chairman-
ship of Sydney Roberts to suggest what changes, if any should be made in
the administrative arrangement with regard to the relationship of public
libraries with other libraries.

The report made the following suggestions :

i. Every public library should have statutory duty to provide a

comprehensive and efficient library service.

ii. The Minister of Education should observe the services and

appoint two advisory bodies, one for England and other for
Wales to assist him.

iii. The county councils, county Boroughs, London Borough Coun-

cil and the city of London should be Library Authorities.

iv. Parish councils should cease to be Library Authorities.

V. About non-county Boroughs and Urban districts suggestions

were made.

vi. Schemes to be submitted to the Minister of Education.

vii. All Library Authorities should be given power to appoint li-

brary committees responsible to the councils and every library

28
 authority not having an independent library committee should
consider appointing it.^

In this report it is also mentioned that library authorities were to be

given following powers to :

(a) Combine or co-operate with each other and to cooperate with

education and other authorities.

(b) Arrange lectures, pay fees to lectures, spend money on activities

of cultural nature and charge for admission to meeting or other
functions held in its premises.

As a result of all these committees recommendations, the Public Library

and Museum Act, 1964 introduced a new concept. Section 1 placed the over
all responsibility for the service on the shoulders of Secretary of the State
of the Department of Education and Science. From the commencement
of this Act, it shall be the duty of the secretary of state "to superintend,
and promote the improvement of the public library service", and upon
every library authority the duty to provide "a comprehensive and effective
service". Parish library authorities were deprived of their powers, and non-
county borough and urban district library authorities of less than 40,000
population might be deprived of their powers if the Secretary of State
deemed that this would result in an improvement of library facilities. Non-
county boroughs and urban districts having a population over 40,000 might
^United Kingdom, Ministry of Education. The structure of public library service in England
and Wales [ Robert's Report], London, 1959, pp }s5-16.

29
apply for library powers. '*
Every library authority was required to provide such information and
such facilities for inspection of library services, stock and records as might
be required for performing their duty.
In 1972, the British Government passed Act called "British Library
Act" which came into operation in July 1973. Under the Act, libraries of
national importance including the British Museum Library, were placed
under one authority namely the British Library Board.
The public library in Great Britain has remained throughout its exis-
tence a free democratic institution, where Government interference in its
every day working is the least. It started a voluntary movement and has
developed through Government support.
British public library legislation has paved the way for library legislation
in many developing countries.

Library Legislation in U.S.A. :

The United States of America is famous for library activities in the world
today. It is called "Land of Libraries." In this country number of states and
federal laws relating to library and library services are available. Though
the public libraries come under the states, the Federal Government has
been providing sufficient funds and facilities for the growth of development
of libraries in the country.

In 1883, the first free, tax supported public library was established in
Peterborough, New Hampshire. But the credit of passing first library act
goes to the state of Massachuetts. By 1870, 19 states were there who en-
'Kelly, Thomas : A history of public libraries in Great Britain - 1845 - 1975. London, 1977, p. 359.

30
acted library legislation. Various State Governments took positive steps
for encouraging the estabishment, improvement of public libraries in un-
derdeveloped areas. State Governments helped these libraries by giving
grant-in aid or direct supply of books. Leading states were Massachusetts,
New Hampshire, New York, Connecticut. The Federal library Services
Act of 1956 provided financial assistance for improvement of public library
service in rural areas. Library Services and Construction Act of 1964 and
its amendment in 1966 provide Federal support for construction of public
library services for LIrban areas also.
Andrew Carnege, through the Carnege Corporation has spent over
42,665,000 dollars in setting up public libraries in USA.
Several foundations like Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation
and Julius Rosenwald Fund have donated grants to promote the cause
of public libraries and to help research and development work in library
service in USA. The grants-in-aid given by State Government to establish,
develop promote libraries were following forms:

1. Grant to establish libraries

2. Continuation Grant,
3. Incentive Grant,
4. Per Capita Grant,
5. Area Grant,
6. Equalisation Grant,
7. Integration Grant,
8. Restricted and Non Restricted Grant,
9. Personnel Grant,

31
10. Scholarship Grant.

The general characteristics of American Public Library Legislation are

as follows :

1. Library Service is not mandatory. Its adoption is voluntary based.

2. The Library Service is free.

3. Library laws were responsible for steady improvement in quality of

library personnel, which is outstanding feature of American Public
Library. Library Schools offered the high quality training.

4. Library laws provided for Library Boards or Trustees and for the li-
brarian as Chief Executive to function effectively.

The USA Government presents variety of features. Each state and other
local area has its own set of library laws to suit the needs of local popula-
tion.

The most significant step is the amendment of Library Service Act,

1956 and Library Service Construction Act, 1964. The Library Service
Act aimed at providing the rural service and Library Service and Construc-
tion Act 1964 extended it to inadequately served urban areas. Both acts
extended state library services, and encouraged co-operative arrangements,
regionalisation and demonstration library projects.

32
Public Library Movement in India :

History :

The development of libraries in any country is closely related with cul-

tural, social, political development of that particular country.

The origin of public library system in modern sense can be traced to the
State of Baroda. At that time the development was unique. Baroda has
developed a library network in the state. Maharaja Sayaji Rao Gaikwad III
who travelled all over the world, was impressed by role of public libraries in
promotion of education in United States in 1910, he invited an American
expert, William Al^on Borden to organise Public library system in Baroda.
The system he developed, consists of central library at the apex, many
branch libraries and travelling libraries with special provision for women
and children and also audio- visual section for the semiliterates.

Bombay Government appointed the Library Development Committee

under the Chairmanship of A. A. A. Fyzee in 1939. The committee rec-
ommended the establishment of district libraries, taluka libraries, town
libraries and village libraries in several stages to create library services to
all sections of the people.

After independence number of significant developments have taken place

for expansion of public library system in the country. The first step was
towards the enactment of library legislation. The credit for providing first
public libraries Act goes to S.R. Ranganathan and state of Madras. Ran-
ganathan, in response to the invitation of the library service section of the
First All Asia Educational Conference drafted the first pubhc libraries bill

33
for India. It was duly presented at the conference which was held between
25th and 30th December, 1930 at Banaras. The draft was given much
pubUcity and was pubUshed in 1931 by Madras Library Association.

The bill was further modified and became the Madras pubhc libraries
Act (XXIV of 1948) on January 29, 1949. It provides organisation of
comprehensive rural and urban library services in the state. This was the
trend for adoption of library act in the other states of the country.

The second important phase was inclusion of scheme of library move-

ment services in the First Five Year Plan (1951-56). The main feature of
the scheme was to establish state - central libraries and district libraries in
each state. A pilot project of integrated library service scheme of twenty
nine years was taken up again. In 1952 the community development pro-
gramme was developed. Social education with rural mobile library services
formed an integral part of this programme.

During this period some other important development occured for the
organisation of library services in the country. la-1948 the-aatioBal Mbragy
act was -pas6e4. The Delivery of Books Act 1954 was passed, and
also amended for newspapers in the year 1956. The provision of Act 1954
made the publisher obligatory to provide free of cost four copies of each
publication to National Library and other three libraries, within thirty
days from the date of publication. The other three Public libraries are
Connemara public Library, Madras, Asiatic Society Library, Bombay and
Delhi Public Library, Delhi.

34
 Establishment of Delhi Public Library, participation of Union Govern-
ment in public library movement and enactment of library laws are main
factors which contributed the improvement of public libraries after inde-
pendence. In 1951, the Delhi Public hbrary started as the first Unesco
Public library project under the auspices of Unesco and Government of
India. Delhi Public Library is entirely financed by the Department of Cul-
ture, Government of India and is administered as autonomous institution
under the Delhi Public Library Board, established under a special resolu-
tion of the Union Ministry of Education. Upto 1988, it has extended into
a vast network with one zonal library, four branch libraries, thirteen sub-
branches, ten community libraries, fifty six mobile service points, fifteen
deposit stations, twelve mobile service points for the blinds and thirty one
resettlement colonies, libraries and reading rooms. It has a Brail library.
Main library is organised into several administrative and functional divi-
sions. It provides free service to all. The library provides reference service,
inter library loan and reprography service. Adult learning, social educa-
tional promotional activities are other important activities of the library.^
5

The first international seminar organised by Unesco ^ on public libraries

in developing countries held in 1953 at Ibadan (Nigeria, Africa), states that
"only legislation can empower the appropriate authorities to provide the
service and ensure adequate financial support and efficient administration
according to national standards. Only legislation can define the functions
of the providing authority, create the conditions in which it may fulfil those

^Rajagopalan, T.S. : Year's work in Indian Librarianship, Delhi, 1988, p. 14.

^Unesco : Development of public libraries in Africa - the Ibadan Seminar, Paris, 1954, p. 7

35
functions".

Advisory Committee was set up by the Government of India in 1957

under the chairmanship of K.P. Sinha, it looked into the problems of public
libraries and recommended extension of public library services to the Block,
Panchayat and villages. Committee also recommended that the library
service was to be adopted on the foundation of library legislation and
library cess. It was expected that establishment of independent department
of social education and libraries.
In continuation of the Sinha Report, the Government of India drafted
a Model Bill in 1963, under the Chairmanship of M.D. Sen. The working
group on libraries appointed by the planning commission, Government of
India in 1964 also submitted another Model public libraries bill on Sep-
tember 7, 1965. The bill was also circulated to all the states for their
consideration. But no response was there from any of the states on thc)
subject.

Another significant development in the Fourth Five Year Plan was es-
tablishment of Raja Ram Mohan Roy Library Foundation in 1972. It is an
autonomous body, having full financial support from Ministry of Education
and Culture, Government of India. The main objective of the foundation
is to support and develop the library services in the country with the help
of State Governments and Union Territories and other organisations work-
ing in the field. This Foundation with matching and non-matching grants
schemes helped the public libraries in the form of books, furniture, grants
for library buildings and audio-visual materials. As an agency of adult
education, the Foundation has emphasised on extension of library facili-

36
ties to small towns and villages; among people with limited education and
neo-literates.
In 1976, the Government of Andhra Pradesh appointed a committee
to review the working of the Andhra Pradesh Public Libraries Act, 1960.
The Chairman of the Committee was Justice Gopalrao Ekbote. Review
committee recommended to strengthen the existing network of branch li-
braries, village libraries, book deposit centres, mobile libraries with a view
to take the library services to door-step of the people.

In 1977 the Department of Culture in the Ministry of Human Resource

Development proposed to D. R. Kalia ^ to up-to-date information contained
in his survey of 1965. Following were his findings:

1. Only Maharashtra has adopted Public Library Legislation since 1967,

but without imposing any library cess. Funds are provided out of the
state revenue.

2. Library legislation has not been introduced in any union territory.

3. Out of 22 states, 15 states have state central libraries or 68% of them

as against 75% in January, 1965.

4. Of the nine union territories, four have central libraries or 44% of them
as against 55% in January, 1965.

5. Of 400 districts 291 districts have district central libraries or 75% of

them as against 27% in January 1965.
^Kalia, D.R. "Libraries in the Fourth Five Year Plan" ILA Bulletin 1 (1965): 1-23.

37
 6. Of 5027 blocks, 1,798 blocks have block libraries or 36% of them as
against 27% in January 1965.

7. Of 5,75,938 villages, 41,828 villages have libraries or 7% of them

against 5% in January, 1965.

8. Of 2,648 towns 1,280 towns i.e. 49% have libraries either run by state
or voluntary organisations.

9. 102 Nehru Yuvak Kendra have libraries and at 25 Bal Bhavans, chil-
dren's libraries are established.

Recently ILA in its council meeting in June 1989 in New Delhi, resolved
to prepare a Model Public Library Act, in the light of recent developments
and on the basis of the experience gained through the eixsting libraries
Acts. This Act drafted by V. Venkatappaiah - the chairman of the Central
Sectional Committee of Public libraries of ILA was discussed in a National
seminar on February 14, 1990. ^

Public Library Acts India :

India has wide variations in geographical, historical, political, economi-
cal backgrounds of its component states. Due to this the pattern of public
libraries differ from state to state.
At present there are ten states who have enacted the library legisla-
tion. These states are (1) Tamil Nadu (1948), (2) Andhra Pradesh(1960),
(3) Karnataka (1965), (4) Maharashtra (1967), (5) West Bengal (1979),
^Venkatappaiah, Velaga " Public library acts in the States - a study" ILA Bulletin, 26 (1991): 187-197.

38
(6) Manipur (1988), (7) Haryana (1989), (8) Kerala (1989), (9) Mizoram
(1993), (10) Goa (1994).
The salient features of public library Acts in India are mentioned here.
Apex Body :

S.R. Ranganathan Model Library Act 1930 insisted that a State Library
Authority should be the apex body in the system. In all most all the
Acts there is a provision for state library authority committee to advise
the government on all matters arising under the act and also provision to
exercise and perform such other powers and duties as may be prescribed.
Such a committee functions as an advisory body. Most of its resolutions
are implemented by Government. That is why the Ekbote Committee
very strongly advocated the need of state library authority in its report.
As a result of this^the Government of Andhra Pradesh amended the APPL
Act, 1960 recently incorporated Andhra Pradesh Granthalaya Parishad in
a modified form as the State Library Authority. In the existing library acts
the names of the apex bodies and their role are presented in Table [2.1].
In Maharashtra the act does not mention any State Central Library Au-
thority. It only provides for the establishment of a State Library Council.
The composition is neither democratic nor broad based. It constitutes six-
teen members, only three are elected and all others are either ex-officio
members or are nominated by the government. It does not provide direct
representation for librarians and certain kinds of libraries. However it pro-
vides for 4 representatives of the State Library Association and one library
expert.

39
 Table 2.1

Name of the Apex Bodies and their role

Sr. State Advisory or with authority

No.
1. Tamil Nadu State Library Committee (Advisory)
2. Andhra Pradesh
Prad A P Granthalaya Parishad (Authority)
3. Karnataka State Library Authority
(Advisory and with Authority)
4. Maharashtra State Library Council (Advisory)
5. West Bengal State Library Council (Advisory)
6. Manipur State Library Committee (Advisory)
7. Kerala State Library Council
(Advisory and with authority)
8. Haryna State Library Authority (Advisory)
9. Mizoram State Library Council (Advisory)
10. Goa State Library Authority
(Advisory & with Authority)

The experience of the developed countries and experts from the field
suggest that there should be State Library Authority, with the Minister
for Libraries as its head and a State Library Committee to advise the
government on all respects of libraries. Andhra Pradesh is the state which
has a separate minister for public libraries.

Head of the Department :

A separate directorate of public libraries is necessary for implementing
various provisions of the public libraries Act, and to carry out the pro-
grammes of the government at the State and National level. In the Acts
of Karnataka and Maharashtra, it has been mentioned that the Head of
the Department must be a professional. In other acts it is not mandatory.

40
The position of the head of the Department is given in Table [2.2].

Table 2.2
Sr. No, State Head of the Department
1. Tamil Nadu Director of Pubhc Hbraries
2. Andhra Prad 1 Director of Public libraries
3. Karnataka State Librarian (Professional)'^•^^J'^-
4. Maharashtra Director of Public libraries (Professional)
5. West Bengal Director of Public libraries
6. Manipur Director of Public libraries
7. Kerala Not specified clearly
8. Haryana Director of libraries
9. Mizoram
10. Goa

The Minister of Education and the Director (non professional) being heav-
ily burdened with the immense and expanding work of education depart-
ment will have little time to pay attention to issues concerning the library
system.

District Library :

All the Acts did not mention definition of the district library. The
definition of district library given by difforont Acts are as follows:

West Bengal Public Libraries Act :

"District library means a library established or recongised by the gov-

ernment as the District library." ^

^Ujalambkar, K.M., Ed. The West Bengal Public Libraries Act, 1979. Pune, 1993 p. 3.

41
Mizoram Public Libraries Act :

"There shall be a district library in every district headquarter of the

state." 10

Haryana Public Libraries Act :

There will be district library in each district rendering book services to

the resident of a district to provide reference and bibliographical services
besides rendering special services to study circles etc. ^^

Maharashtra Public Libraries Act :

11 District library means a public library recognised as a District library

by the Director under rule 18.

No library shall be recognised as District library as the case may be

unless :

1. The library is classified in class "A" or "B".

A and B class public library should fulfil the following conditions.

"Ujalambkar, K.M., Ed. The Mizoram Public Libraries Act, 1993, Pune, 1994, p. 20.
^^Ujalambkar, K.M., Ed. Salient features of Hariyana Public Library Act, 1988, 1990, Pune, p. 133.

42
 Table 2.3
Sr. No. Item A Class B class
Library Library
1. Building Own building with
sufficient
accommodation
to house the library
2. Books > 15,000 > 5000
3. Subscription of > 50 >15
periodicals
4. News papers 15 5
5. Children separate and well Seperate well
section ec^uipped equipped
6. Members > 300 > 100
7. Reading Yes Yes
arrangements for
ladies
8. Opening hours on >6 <6
every working day
9. Cultural and > 10 < 4
educational
programmes in a year
10. Services of a V ^/
librarian
11. Reference service ^/ -

2. The library fulfills the following additional conditions :

(a) The library shall supply on loan such books to other public li-
braries in the district or taluka as the case may be in such manner
as the Director may specify from time to time.

(b) The library shall endeavour to promote reading habit among the
public in the District or Taluka as the case may be:

43
 (c) The library shall help and guide the recognised public libraries
in the district or taluka as the case may be for the promotion of
library service.

There is a need to revise the criteria placed for these classes. Whatever
criteria recommended in MPLA has become outdated (regarding number
of books, number of members, Newspapers, number of periodicals).

N a m e s of District Unit :
The district unit is a corporate body, but in practice it has become a
branch office of the Directorate. The district units are not enjoying the
autonomy as in the case of other corporate bodies. The names of district
units in different Acts are shown in Table [2.4] :

Table 2.4
Sr. No. State System
Local Library Authority
2. Andhra Prad 1 Zilla Granthalaya Samstha
3. Karnataka District Library Authority
4. Maharashtra District Library Authority
5. West Bengal Local Library Authority
6. Manipur District Library Authority
7. Kerala District Library Council
8. Haryana District Library Committee
9. Mizoram Not specified
10. Goa District Library Committee
A.
Andhra Pradesh has changed the name of the District Unit to a vernacular
form as ' Zilla Granthalaya Samstha.'
In the Maharashtra Public Libraries Act even for the establishment of

44
a Central Library at Bombay, the district libraries at district level, the
provisions are only permissive and not mandatory.

The functions of the district administrative units have been viewed al-
most in the same way in all the Acts. In Maharashtra Public Libraries
Act, it is not clear how the advisory body can function effectively for this
purpose. In other Acts a Local Library Authority may :

(a) provide suitable lands and buildings for public libraries and also
the furniture, fittings, materials and conveniences requisite there-
fore,

(b) stock such libraries with books, periodicals, newspapers, maps,

works and specimens of art and science, lantern slides, cinema
reels, and any other thing suitable for the purpose;

(c) employ from time to time such officers and staff for such libraries
in the manner prescribed;

(d) with the previous sanction of the government close or discontinue

any public library organised or run by it or change the site there
of;
(e) recommend to the Director for withdrawal of recognition of or
discontinuance of government grant, to any public library;

(f) accept, with the previous sanction of the government any other
gift or endowment for any purpose with its activities;

(g) provide for lectures and seminars on topics, subjects and the hold-
ing of classes; and

45
 (h) in general, do everything necessary to carry out the puposes of
this Act.

Chairman of the District Library Authority :

According to the Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh (before 1987 amend-

ment) and Manipiu" Acts, the Chairman of the district unit, is to be
elected by the Member of the District Library Authority. According to
the amended Act 1987 of Andhra Pradesh, the Chairman is to be nom-
inated by the Government. According to Maharashtra Public Libraries
Act, a President of Zilla Parishad fis the Chairman of such a committee
which represents a serious combination. The position of the Chairman in
the Acts is given in Table [2.5].

Secretary : In Tamil Nadu from 1972 onwards, the posts of District Li-
brary Officers were created, to act as ex-officio secretaries of the Local
Library Authorities, in addition to the post of librarians of the District
Central Libraries. In case of Maharashtra, the Educational Officer of Zilla
Parishad, who may be an unqualified person, holds this post. They are
ex-officio secretaries of the Districy Library Committee. Gopalrao Ekbote
^^ mentions that "this goes against the general trend of making the admin-
istration of the public libraries independent of the local government or the
Education Department".

^^Ekbote, Gopalrao, Public libraries system, Hyderabad, 1987, pp. 72-73.

46
 Table 2.5
Sr.No. State Head of the District
Library Authority
1. Tamil Nadu Chairman - elected
2. Andhra .^radesh Chairman - nominated by Government
3. Karnp For corporations - the Mayor of the
Municipal Corporation or the
President of the Municipal
Corporation or other Municipal body
of the city shall be the ex-officio
Chairman of the City Library
Authority.
X'^'or District Deputy Commissioner of
the District shall be the
ex-officio Chairman of the District
Library Authority.
Chairman of the Education Committee
in Zilla Parishad, is the
ex-officio President of the
District Library Committee.
The Chairman of the Education
Committee of the Municipal
Corporation of Greater Bombay is
the ex-officio President of the
City Library Committee.
5. West Bengal District Magistrate of the District is
the ex-officio Chairman.
6. Manipur Chairman - elected
7. Kerala President - elected
8. Haryana Not mentioned
9. Mizoram Not mentioned
10. Goa Not mentioned

47
The position of Secretary is shown in Table [2.6].

Table 2.6
Sr. No. State Ex-officio Secretary of the Authority
1. Tamil Nadu District Library Officer
2. Andhra Pradesh Librarian, District Central Library
3. Karnataka Chief Librarian of the District
4. Maharashtra Education Officer of the Zilla Parishad
5. West Bengal District Library Officer
6. Manipiir Librarian, District Library
7. Kerala Secretary, District Library Council
(elected)
Joint Secretary, District Library
Council (elected)
8. Harayana Not mentioned
9. Mizoram Not mentioned
10. Goa Not mentioned

Members and officiating periods of the District Authority :

Every District Library Authority shall consist of various members stated

in the Acts. The number of members and officiating period of members
are shown in Table [2.7].
Manpower of the System :

In Tamil Nadu and Karnataka States all staff members working in the
systems are government servants. In Andhra Pradesh all the librarians of
the District Central Libraries have been made government servants. Ma-
nipur have not mentioned anything about the staff working in the system.
The status of employees, working under the various Acts is shown in Table
[2.81.

48
 Table 2.7
Sr. No. State Number of members Officiating
periods of
members
1. Tamil Nadu City Local Library 3 years
Authority = 11
District Local Library
Authority = 15
2. Andhra Pradesh City Local Library 5 years
Authority = 1 1
District Local Library
Authority = 12
3. Karnataka City Local Library 3 years
Authority = 11
District Local Library
Authority = 21
4. Maharashtra District Library 3 years
Committee = 19
5. West Bengal District Library Not
Authority = 20 mentioned
6. Manipur District Library Not
Authority = 13 mentioned
7. Kerala District Library 3 years
Council = 10
8. Haryana District Library Not
Committee mentioned
9. Mizoram Not mentioned Not
mentioned
10. Goa Not mentioned Not
mentioned
It is noticed that the staff structure and cadre for libraries are well
organised in Karnataka Public Libraries Act. In all other States, the Public
Librarians' status and salary is not commensurate with their duties and

49
responsibilities.

Table 2.8
Sr. No. State Status of Employees
1. Tamil Nadu Government -Servants
2. Andhra Pradesh Librarian of District Central
Libraries are Qrovernment
Servants
3. Karnataka Karnataka State Library
Service. All staff members are
government servants.
4. Maharashtra Maharashtra State Library
Service. Staff members of district
libraries are not
government servants.
5. West Bengal West Bengal State Library
Service. All staff members
are government servants
6. Manipur Not mentioned
7. Kerala Not mentioned
8. Haryana Government servants
9. Mizoram Officers and state government
public libraries
10. Goa Not mentioned
Library Funds :
To meet the day to day expenditure and maintenance of libraries every
library authority shall maintain the library fund at state and district levels.

The Karnataka Public Libraries Act, and Andhara Pradesh Public Li-
braries Act mention state library fund. As per the 1989 amendment of
the Andhra Pradesh Public Libraries Act, Andhra Pradesh Granthalaya
Parishad shall have its own fund consisting of :

50
 1. The grants made by the state government,'

2. All the moneys received by or on its behalf under the provisions of

this Act or any other law for the time being in force or under any
other contract;

3. All proceeds of the disposal of the property by or on behalf of the

Parishad;

4. All money received by or on behalf of the Parishad from public bodies,

private bodies or private individual by way of grants, donations or
deposits;

5. All interest and profits arising from any investments or from any trans-
action in connection with any money; and

6. Such other sums from the Zilla Granthalaya Samstha as may be re-
quired for specific purposes as provided under the Act or as per the
instructions of the government from time to time.

In Karnatak Public Libraries Act, the following sums are credited to

the State Library Fund :

1. The grants made by the state government to the State Library Au-
thority to perform the duties entrusted to it;

2. Grants which the central government may make,

3. Contribution and gifts made to the State Library Authority;

51
 4. Funds and other amounts collected by the State Library Authority
under the rules or bye-laws made under this act.

In MPLA, there is a provision of creation of State Library Fund (not

less than 25 lakhs per year) but there is no provision of District Library
Fund.
Malcolm S. Adiseshiah states that "we spend as a country Rs. 8 per
person on education, but we spend only 3 paise per person on public li-
braries. This is like buying a cart for Rs. 100/- and attaching to it a
chicken at a cost of Rs. 5/- and expecting it to pull the cart " ^^.
It means that India is not spending enough amount on public library
services. The result is that public libraries in India provide only one book
for every hundred against 145 in UK and 100 in USA. Similarly out of every
100 persons 37 are registered with public libraries as borrowers in UK and
25 in USA as against one out of every one thousand in India, based on an
estimate made in 1973 ^^.

Position of Library Cess :

S.R. Ranganathan and many experts are in favour of library cess, since
it assures a steady income. The rate of library cess differ from state to
state. Table [2.9] shows provision of library cess in different Acts.
For the new states with library legislation - Haryana, Kerala, Manipur,
the picture is not yet clear as no reports or observations or evaluation are
received. However, it may be pointed out that in Kerala Public Libraries
^^Adiseshiah, M.S. "The library innovation and the national interest, Inaugural address"
Proceedings of the Seminar on Pubhc Libraries, American Library,, Madras on 12 December, 1972, p.
_
^^Kalia, D. R. "A review of public library development in India" ILA Bulletin, 9 (1973), p. 29.

52
Act the provision of an amount of not more than one percent of the educa-
tional budget is a defective clause and it should have been better to ensure
a minimum grant by providing atleast not less than one percent of the
amount of educational budget. In Harayana, the rate of library cess is not
fixed and is totally left to the whims of the state government which again
is a defective clause. Similarly, the Manipur Public Libraries Act, 1988
also does not make provision for any definite grant from the government
which would make the services of various library units virtually ineffective.
One peculiar feature of the Kerala Public Libraries Act is that, the state
library council maintains a fund called state library fund from which all
the expenses of the State Library Council, District Library Council, Taluka
Library Unions are met. There are no separate library funds at District or
Taluka level. The grant of the state and central government etc. are to be
added to the state library fund. The State Library Council is empowered
to distribute from the state library fund.

Levying of library cess is necessary for generation of funds perennially,

without depending much, on the state budget allocation.

There is a provision of library cess as surcharge in the library Acts of

Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala. But there is no pro-
vision for library cess in the Acts of the state of Maharashtra, Manipur,
West Bengal.

53
 Table 2.9

Library cess
Sr.No. State Rate
1. Tamil Nadu Five paise cess on property
tax or house tax.
2. Andhra Pradesh Eight paise on property tax or
house tax.
3. Karnataka Three paise cess on lands and
buildings, on entry of goods
into local area for
consumption, use or sale, on
profession, trades, callings
and employments.
4. Maharashtra No library cess.
Not less than 25 lakhs of
rupees grant will be provided
every year.
5. West Bengal No library cess
6. Manipur No library cess
7. Kerala Five paise on buidling tax or
property tax
8. Haryana Library cess on property tax
and house tax to be decided by
government.
9. Mizoram No library cess
10. Goa Government shall frame the
annual budget of public
libraries in the state within
the broad framework of the
plan.
Experience showed that the states, who had the provision of library cess
are ahead in the development of assets and library service. The Advisory

54
committee headed by K.P. Siiiha also concluded that only a cess can pro-
vide a stable base for library finance. "So a provision is necessary in the
Act for the collection of library cess on house tax, professional tax, etc and
a simultaneously provision from the general revenues could be linked with
it so as to share with it an assured annual budget".^^

It is true that the state such as West Bengal which is committed to the
development of libraries may spend much more even without collecting a
single pie of library cess. But this is a rare case. If there is a library cess,
and if the realisation of library cess is fairly a good amount, the library
authorites at district level can take up many activities.

Tamil Nadu and the Andhra Pradesh Act provide for a library cess in
the form of surcharge on the property tax. Tamil Nadu and Kerala acts
provide a cess collection or five paise while it is eight paise in APLA on
every rupee on the property tax. The philosophy behind the provisions for
collection of library cess is based on the following premises :

1. A continuous and increasing supply of finances to the Public Library

system.

2. The system provides a mechanism which need not suffer due to changes
in governments.

3. People will identify themselves with the public libraries because of

library cess they pay.

^^India. Ministry of Education. Report of the Advisory Committe for Libraries, Delhi, 1959, pp. 5-6.

55
 4. The library movement should be a people's movement developing from
the grassroot instead of imposition from the top.

In view of this philosophy, Tamil Nadu Act and Andhra Pradesh Act are
criticized for valid reasons that the library cess is limited only to property
tax or house tax and left out various other sources such as octroi, profes-
sional tax, vehicle tax, land revenue etc. resulting in inadequate income
in these states. And now recently Haryana and Kerala have also joined
hands with these two states whose library cess is imposed on property tax
or/and house tax. In Kerala it is fixed at the rate of five paise, in Haryana
it is to be decided by the government.

The points that goes against this kind of library cess are that :

1. It does not involve the people from the rural areas, and is rather
limited to urbanites only. Thus the situation in Tamil Nadu, Andhra
Pradesh, Kerala and Harjjiyana is not encouraging by any standards.

2. For collecting library cess, it consumes about 50 to 60 per cent amount

of total collection of library cess.

3. At some of the places, library cess is not collected or cess collection is

not deposited at the authority.

However, on studying the Karnataka Public libraries Act it is observed

better situation because (1) this act provides wider base for the collection of
the library cess (Section 30).30(6)a library cess in the form of a surcharge on
tax on lands and buildings shall be levied in the area within the juridiction

56
of every District Library Authority at the rate of three paise for every
Rupee of tax so levied.
(2) A city Library Authority or District Authority may, with the previ-
ous sanction of the State Government by notification, increase the rate of
hbrary cess levied on any item of tax specified in clause(a) or (b) of sub-
section (1), subject to the condition that the rate shall not exceed six paise
for every rupee of the tax levied.
(3) The cess levied shall be collected by the municipal corporation, mu-
nicipal council or other municipal body, or the village panchayat or other
local authority.

There are eleven City Central Libraries (CCL) established so far in the
Karnataka state. The main source of income for CCLs is derived from the
3% less levied under the provisions of the Act. The other sources are fines,
membership deposits, sale of old news papers, bank interest and donations.
All the expenditure except the staff salary is met out of this fund, while
the staff salary is paid by the state Government.

All the CCL's used to get the financial assistance, before the abolition
of the octroi i.e. prior to 1982. But after the abolition of the octroi
that amount is given to all CCL's in the form of compensation by the
Government of Karnataka. Although the State Government is providing
octroi compensation to all CCL's but the amount is not equal to the amount
used to get under octrois and it is very meager. Table [2.10] shows that
there is no rationale in sanctioning of octroi compensation to CCL's in the

57
 state^^.

Table 2.10

Octroi compensation from the State Government of CCL

Hubli-Dharwad
Year(s) Proposals sent by Actual
the Director amount sanctioned
1988-89 Rs. 6.24 lakhs Rs. 2.84 lakhs
1989-90 Rs. 6.71 lakhs Rs. 4.13 lakhs
1990-91 Rs. 7.39 lakhs Rs. 1.55 lakhs

The inadequate financing of CCL, in turn will harm even the routine ac-
tivities in libraries.

Another problem with CCL's is the authorities who are collecting the
library cess, Municipal Corporation(s) or Council(s) are not prompt in
their duties especially in remitting the amount collected to the concerned
CCL's. This is the case with almost all the CCL's with few exceptions.

The District Central Libraries main source of income is same as that

of CCL. In addition, the District Central Libraries are receiving a grant
of 3% equal to the land revenue collection in the district from the state
government.

In Andhra Pradesh Public Libraries Act, library cess is a surcharge at

eight paise per Rupee on House or Property tax collected by local bodies.
The state government gives grant to the district library and meets all es-
tablishment expenditure. In Andhra Pradesh, the amount raised through
^^Karisiddappa, C.R. and Kumbhar, B.P. "Financing of public libraries in Karnataka" In
Current Studies in library and information science, edited by C.R. Karisiddappa et. al. Dharwad, 1993,
pp. 153-162.

58
cess account for a mere 29% of the meagre budget provision made. In Kar-
nataka it accounted for 31% during the 1981-82. In this year contribution
from the state government accounted for 65.74% in Andhra Pradesh and
67%) in Karnataka. The donations received in Andhra Pradesh accounted
for a mere 0.5%. ^"^

From the above, it is observed that the experience in collecting library

cess in the state of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu has not been encour-
aging for the simple reason that the surcharge is only on property tax; and
there is no penal provision for failure in cess collection.

The most important aspect of cess collection is the participation of

the society at large in library development so as to make it to people's
movement.
Any study about the situation of cess collection in Kerala and Haryana
are yet to made as these are only about two years old babies. ^^
In Maharashtra, West Bengal and Manipur, Government maintain the
public libraries from the consolidated fund of the state. In these cases
libraries are permitted to collect nominal fees from their users, but the
amount, thus collected is very less.
The State Government of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka,
provide for matching grants as provided in their respective library acts. In
these three states, these grants are generally spent on the salaries of the
staff, while the cess amount is spent on the purchase of reading materials,
and maintenance cost. In Kerala, Public Library Act. (1989) also pro-
^^Andhra Department of Public Library : State Administration Report - 1983-1984, Hyderabad 1984,
p. 15.
^*Seva Singh "Maharashtra and Bengal and Manipur : Finance the public library system in India, with
reference to the State of Punjab", Indian Journal of Information Library and Society, 4, (1991): 269-279.

59
vides for state library fund to which state government may give an annual
grant which will not be more than one percent of the amount allotted for
"Education." /
This fund is an addition to the library cess and is primarily meant
to meet the day-to-day expenditure and maintenance of libraries. One
unique feature of the Kerala Public Libraries Act is that it does not provide
separate district library fund or Taluka library fund. Instead, the expenses
of the District Library councils and Taluka library unions are met from the
state library fund. ^^

On the other hand, the Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Manipur Public
Library Acts provide only for the government grants in absence of any
library cess. However, in Maharashtra there exists some private libraries
and/or government aided libraries which actually do not form part of the
library system in the state. These libraries have other sources of finance
such as endowment, gifts etc. The Public Libraries in West Bengal collect
some service charges but these are very nominal and they, by and large,
depend upon government grants only.

In Manipur Act provisions are made for the government grants. However
in the absence of any definite grants from the government, library services
are likely to be made virtually ineffective.

In view of the already inadequate collection of library cess it is a point

to be noted that the matching grants will not be sufficient to meet the
increasing financial needs of the public library system.
^^Ramkrishnan, M. V. "Legal provision for public library finance in UK and India" In
Public Library in India edited by C. A. Augustine and G. C. Devarajan, New Delhi, 1990, pp. 81-88.

60
 The following chapter gives account of historical development and build-
ing of district libraries.

61