College and Research Libraries By ARCHIE L. McNEAL Academic and Research Libraries in India IN D I A N U N I V E R S I T I E S today are facing a problem about which there has been much concern in our own country, but their opportunity to anticipate and to prepare for this problem has been much less than ours. The problem referred to is overcrowded universities, with inade- quate resources in personnel, plant, and libraries. The fact that the attainment of in- dependence in India occurred in 1947 is basic to this, as well as many other problems. The constitution of India pro- vides universal compulsory free educa- tion for children up to the age of four- teen within ten years of its promulgation. At the elementary level approximately 30 per cent of the children in the age group six to eleven were in school in 1947, but in five years this had risen to 40 per cent.1 The number of pupils was over nineteen million on March 31, 1953. This rapid increase will ultimately have its effect as these students complete their secondary school training and a proportion seek higher education. Before 1947 there were only twenty-one univer- sities in India; in 1953, this number had increased to thirty-one. Many of the universities have enroll- ments of 30,000-40,000 students. T h e need for additional qualified faculty has not been met; at least, one has the im- 1 K a b i r , Humayan. Education in New India. ( N e w Y o r k : H a r p e r , 1 9 5 7 ) , pp. 6-7. Dr. McNeal is Director of Libraries, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Fla. He was in India during 1957-58 on an assignment under the United States State Department's International Educational Exchange Program. pression that this is true in view of the many complaints about inadequate staff and the poor salaries which make re- cruiting of competent young people to teaching more and more difficult. The universities are all state supported and controlled. The central government exercises an advisory and coordinating function, collects information and sta- tistics, serves as a clearing house, and provides financial assistance. This latter function is handled through the Univer- sity Grants Commission, which has re- cently made several large grants for the construction of new library buildings. T h e University of Delhi has recently completed a fine, new building which shows the influence of a visit by the li- brarian, Mr. S. Das Gupta, to the United States, where he studied many univer- sity libraries. Other universities have not been so fortunate, although Baroda Uni- versity in Bombay State does have a very good building now nearing com- pletion, and already occupied. Dr. C. P. Shukla, the librarian, secured his Ph.D. at Michigan and through the intelligent cooperation of the vice-chancellor (pres- ident)2 of Baroda was able to force cer- tain necessary changes in the architect's plans, even while still completing his work at Michigan. Many of the new buildings are being designed by archi- tects who are not experienced in library plans and building, without any con- sideration of the librarian. This is attrib- utable in some measure to the status of librarians in India. In the majority of institutions visited 2 S i n c e the university is a state institution, the gov- ernor of the state is usually designated chancellor. T h e chief official of the university is thus the vice-chan- cellor. MAY 1959 243 the librarian did not have faculty rank or status and often was regarded as a high-ranking clerical worker. His title might be assistant librarian, deputy li- brarian, or librarian. It is common prac- tice to have a faculty member as "officer- in-charge." Some explanation was made to the effect that the faculty member is a "gazetted" officer while the librarian is not, and that all orders and expendi- tures must be approved over the signa- ture of a "gazetted" officer. In another case, the vice-chancellor stated that he was looking for a properly qualified li- brarian, who would be accorded full rank and privilege, but that the salary he had to offer was not adequate to at- tract a man with the proper degree. This brings up the matter of training for li- brarianship in India. T h e library education offered in the universities in general leads to a diploma in librarianship. Admission to these courses is usually predicated on the ap- plicant having completed his Bachelor's degree. At the University of Bombay, undergraduates are admitted, but must attend four terms instead of two as re- quired of graduates. Courses generally include: Evolution and History of Writ- ing, Books and Libraries; Library Organ- ization; Library Administration; Refer- ence Work and Documentation; Classi- fication; Cataloging; Cultural History of India; and Outline of Knowledge. (The latter two may not be characteristic of all programs, but are required at Bom- bay.) The majority of instruction is given by members of the library staff, which is an added duty with no compensatory time off, and no additional pay. T h e program leading to the Master's degree at Delhi University is the only one of this type observed. An established Ph.D. course is not functioning at pres- ent. The lack of degree programs and the inadequancy of arrangements for full-time library school faculty are prob- lems which were brought to the atten- tion of the Secretary of the Ministry of Education of the central government of India by the writer in a final interview upon completion of the assignment in India. Many short courses and certificate courses are springing up throughout the country which will perhaps serve cer- tain local needs, but can only further weaken the position of librarianship in India. T h e maintenance of standards is a responsibility of the central govern- ment. Unless standards are established and some efforts made by the central government to rectify the situation, the salary and status of the librarian will continue to be poor. Service in many of the libraries is hampered by the need for protecting the books. Locked book cases, with glass fronts secured by padlocks, are quite common. Some libraries have sufficient attendants with keys stationed strategi- cally to give reasonably good service. In others, the borrower must present his request and come back the next day to see if it can be filled. Open stacks are a rarity, and in only one major library did this principle seem operative. The high cost of books is partly re- sponsible for this situation. One must realize that books from the United States represent relatively five times the list price as we think of it, since the dollar is equivalent to 4.75 rupees, and the economy of the university is geared to that unit. Another factor is inadequate professional staff, which makes it diffi- cult to give the service our students and faculty have come to expect. Finally, the buildings themselves are often so de- signed and arranged that modern library service is impossible. The actual size of the book collection is not sufficient to provide for the swollen enrollments in any institution visited, if modern teaching methods are adopted. From 90,000 to 200,000 seems to be the range, although there may be one or more universities above this figure. T h e 244 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES nature of the universities which are "af- filiating" is such that separate collec- tions of a few thousand volumes may exist in a number of affiliated colleges. Of those visited, the library seldom had the staff or quarters for proper service. Departmental libraries often proved more adequate in content and staff than those of a college, within the same uni- versity. The lack of an extensive book collec- tion can be explained in part by the nature of the teaching in Indian univer- sities. So much emphasis is put on the final examinations upon completion of the three-year or four-year course, that little evaluation occurs throughout the year in separate courses. This emphasis has resulted in "study guides" to various subjects which are offered for sale at most book-sellers. Students do very little outside reading during the year and cram for the final examinations. Every- thing rests on their performance at this point, and many answers are memorized and reproduced, sometimes with several papers having identical answers. The failure to use library materials also rests with the faculty. Many of them do not encourage independent reading, but prefer to be the oracle from whom all knowledge flows. If the efforts now being made to adopt general education as it exists in Amer- ican universities is successful, it may well mean a revolution in teaching methods in Indian universities, and a new impe- tus to library use. The Bhagavantam Re- port of 1956 made certain recommenda- tions which led to the visit to the United States in 1957 of a team of Indian edu- cators. Following this visit, a team of American educators went to India to as- sist in the implementation of general education programs in those institutions from which Indian team members had come. It was as a part of this group that my services were requested. Delhi University approved plans for initiating a program of general educa- tion on a voluntary basis in 1958, and will make it compulsory for all stu- dents in 1959-60. Bombay and Baroda are well on the way to organizing similar courses. The implications for libraries in these universities should be evident. They must expect greatly increased de- mands, and fortunately, they are among those institutions best prepared to meet them. It is not intended to give the impres- sion that all is bad and nothing good about Indian libraries. All that has been said should be considered in the light of the recency of Indian independence and self-determination. Only about ten years have elapsed since the Indian gov- ernment under the new constitution has undertaken a substantial increase in the t e m p o of e d u c a t i o n . Tremendous changes are taking place, and much that has been said would have been true of the American library situation forty years ago. These facts stated are signif- icant by comparison with conditions in a country where many similar problems have been met and solved. Research and special libraries present a much more encouraging picture. T h e Indian National Library at Calcutta un- der the direction of an aggressive librar- ian, B. S. Kesavan, is providing many needed services and excellent leadership. Of primary importance is the current effort to establish an Indian National Bibliography. This is a function which seems logical for the National Library, and progress is being made. A number of scholars of eminence in various fields are being attracted by Mr. Kesavan, and should prove of inestimable assistance. T h e Indian National Scientific Docu- mentation Centre was established in 1952 by the Government of India with the assistance of UNESCO for providing documentation facilities to scientific and technical research workers. They have grown rapidly and now have an excellent MAY 1959 245 staff, good physical quarters and equip- ment, and are doing superior work. The photographic laboratory has a staff well qualified and enthusiastic. Translation services are available and being used. The publication program, including An- nals of Library Science, is well devel- oped. Other titles are INSDOC List: Cur- rent Scientific Literature and Bibli- ography of Scientific Publications of South & Southeast Asia. Quarters for INSDOC are provided in the National Physical Laboratory building in New Delhi, and they seem well housed and appropriately located. Among the government libraries in New Delhi, the Central Secretariat Li- brary, the Library of the Ministry of Education, and that of the Ministry of External Affairs seem to be developing rapidly. Each is specialized and is striv- ing to meet the needs of an area of gov- ernment. Because of location of the Na- tional Library in Calcutta, there is a greater need for strength in these spe- cialized services. The National Archives, also in New Delhi, has an attractive building which is already overcrowded and an addition is now in prospect. Of especial interest is their preservation work. The lamination equipment occupies extensive space, and the staff engaged in various repair opera- tions is sizeable. Under the International Educational Exchange Program two staff members of the National Archives will visit the United States this year on a project to microfilm documents and rec- ords in Washington pertinent to Indian history. The Adyar Library in Madras was founded in 1886 for research in Eastern civilization, philosophy, and religion. It has an outstanding collection of San- skrit, Prakrit, and Pali manuscripts. Lack of funds has seriously curtailed their acquisition program now, but they con- tinue to serve scholars and to publish. The Adyar Library Bulletin has been published as a quarterly since 1937. Finally, mention should be made of the Khuda Baksh Oriental Library in Patna. It was founded in 1900 by Mau- lavi Khuda Baksh Khan Bahadur and is famous for its collection of rare Arabic and Persian manuscripts. It also pos- sesses the only two volumes saved from the sack of the Moorish University of Cordova. T h e library is located in a building, formerly a residence, on the main thoroughfare of the city. Consider- ing the nature and value of the material, it is poorly housed. There is no air con- ditioning or humidity control. Some of the volumes are kept in a big safe which stands at one side of the curator's office. Many more, equally valuable, are simply on open shelves along the wall, includ- ing the two volumes from Cordova. In spite of their age and present housing, these volumes are in fair condition al- though smoke-stained. The seal of Cor- dova University is clear and easily deci- pherable. Unfortunately, the terms of the trust require that the present loca- tion be maintained and it seems unlikely that any effort can or will be made to get this collection into a more appropriate place, such as the National Library. Libraries such as that of the Geologi- cal Survey of India, the Bose Research Institute, the Indian Statistical Institute, the Zoological Survey of India, all in Calcutta; the Indian Institute of Sci- ences, Bangalore; the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, B o m b a y — a l l these are important and active in serv- ing research needs. It is not possible in the scope of a three-month visit with no more than a few days in each center to gain com- plete and detailed information with re- gard to resources. This article is a sum- mary of impressions and can only be presented in that light. Any omissions are unintentional. 246 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES