College and Research Libraries


JOHN R. RUSSELL 

First Seminar of Indian University 

Librarians 
The first Seminar of University Librarians held at ]aipur, India, No-
vember 16-19, discussed government support of university libraries, 
status and salary scales for librarians, interlibrary loans, union catalogs, 
and library cooperation. Fallowing the recommendation of the seminar 
participants, the Indian Academic Libraries Association was revived 
in order to provide leadership for future cooperative activities and 
meetings. Six American librarians participated in the seminar by chair-
ing sessions, presenting papers, and taking part in the discussion. 

sIX AMERICAN LIBRARIANS were priv-
ileged to attend the first Seminar of 
University Librarians held at Jaipur No-
vember 16-19, 1966, and to take part in 
discussions of university library prob-
lems with the thirty-five Indian librarians 
who were the leading participants dur-
ing this four-day conference. The semi-
nar was organized by N. N. Gidwani, 
director of libraries at Rajasthan Uni-
versity in J aipur, who put all the facili-
ties of the university at the disposal of 
those attending, including the very at-
tractive university guest house at which 
most of the participants resided and ate 
their meals. The formal sessions of the 
seminar were also held at the university 
guest house. Social functions took place 
at the university vice-chancellor's resi-
dence, in the Rajasthan University li-
brary, the Hind Hotel, and the City 
Palace, all of them giving the partici-
pants an opportunity to get better ac-
quainted with each other, and to see 
the university campus and some of Jai-
pur, the beautiful .. Pink City." 

Mr. Russell, Director of Libraries at the 
University of Rochester has been on leave 
as Library Consultant at the American Stud-
ies Research Centre, Hyderabad, India. 

326 I 

The American guests at this very in-
teresting and fruitful conference were 
W. W. Bennett, director of United States 
Information Service libraries in India; 
Robert L. Cain, Indian Institute of 
Technology at Kanpur; John C. Craw-
ford, director of the U.S. Library of 
Congress American Libraries Book Pro-
curement Centre, New Delhi; John R. 
Russell and Mrs. Russell, American Stud-
ies Research Centre, Hyderabad; and 
Carl White, Ford Foundation. The In-
dian participants were some of the lead-
ing librarians of university and institute 
libraries from many sections of India. 
While those in attendance came from 
academic libraries in different parts of 
two of the largest countries in the world, 
the similarity of problems in all the li-
braries represented, both Indian and 
American, was striking. 

The seminar was very well organized 
and was conducted in a most efficient 
manner. In addition to the eight regular 
sessions, and the session .. to finalise rec-
ommendations," there was an inaugural 
session and a concluding session, at 
both of which the Vice-Chancellor of 
Rajasthan University, M. V. Mathur, and 
N. N. Gidwani, the director of libraries 
spoke. (The Vice-Chancellor's positio~ 



First Seminar of Indian University Librarians I 327 

in an Indian university is equivalent to 
a university president's position in the 
United States.) 

Upon arrival the first morning the par-
ticipants were given copies of the papers 
that had been prepared for the seminar, 
a program for the entire conference, and 
a list of the participants. Each morning 
the detailed program for the day was 
distributed, and before each of the three 
sessions during the day, a program for 
the session with the list of papers to be 
covered and the discussion points to be 
debated was provided. The thirty-eight 
papers varied in length from a single 
page to twenty-two pages. The lists of 
discussion points for the eight sessions 
ranged from nine to nineteen numbered 
points. For each session a chairman and 
a reporter were chosen by nomination 
from the group, and stenographers took 
down the proceedings in shorthand. At 
the first session a committee was selected 
to prepare the list of recommendations 
to be discussed and approved or disap-
proved at the final working session, the 
members being N. N. Gidwani, J. S. 
Sharma, librarian of the Punjab Uni-
versity, and K. S. Deshpande, librarian 
of Mysore University. 

Since the papers that had been pre-
pared by various participants and by 
a few who were not present were in the 
hands of those attending, they were not 
read in full. Instead, the writer of a 
paper was allowed a few minutes to sum-
marize his major points or to explain 
further those he wished to have con-
sidered by the group. In the few cases 
where the writers were not present, 
others in the group substituted for them 
and commented briefly on the papers. 
S. R. Ranganathan, for example, had 
prepared two interesting papers but un-
fortunately could not be present. His 
papers were distributed and commented 
upon by others. 

Following the brief talks by the writ-
ers of papers, the discussion points in 

the lists that had been prepared in ad-
vance were taken up one-by-one and de-
bated vigorously or passed over as not 
pertinent. Formal votes were not taken, 
but after discussion of a point the chair-
man announced the .. sense of the house" 
on that point. If his statement was not 
contested, it stood, and the Committee 
on Recommendations had a good basis 
for preparing the final recommendations. 
The discussion on many of the points 
was lively, sometimes heated, and dem-
onstrated the keen interest that the par-· 
ticipants had in improving library service 
and the library profession. 

Three important Indian government 
reports were referred to in the discus-
sions: Report of the University Educa-
tion Commission ( 1951 ), known as the 
.. Radhakrishnan Report"; University and 
College Libraries, Containing the Report 
of the Library Committee of the U ni-
versity Grants Commission ( 1965); and 
Report of the Education Com mission 
( 1966), known as the "Kothari Report." 

A wide range of subjects was covered 
in the eight sessions. The topics assigned 
for each session are itemized below. 

1. The place and role of the library 
in the Indian university and how it can 
play a more effective role in our educa-
tional endeavor. 

2. Interlibrary cooperation between 
university libraries and special academic 
libraries in acquisitions and services. 

3. The University Grants Commission 
and the university libraries. 

4. The role and qualities of the uni-
versity librarian in India-his selection 
and training. 

5. Coordination between university li-
braries, departmental (seminar) libra-
ries, and college libraries, to pool re-
sources and channel efficient service and 
adequate coverage. 

6. Norms for university libraries. 
7. Leadership of the university library 

to the colleges and the community. 
8. Means and methods for accelerat-



328 I College & Research Libraries • September, 1967 

ing progress of Indian university librar-
ies. 

A few of these topics may need some 
clarification. The University Grants 
Commission which was established in 
1956 is an autonomous body that de-
termines the amount of money that will 
be given to each university and its li-
braries from the total amount provided 
by the national government. It is the 
most powerful policy-making body in 
higher education in India. It was evi-
dent from the discussion that the uni-
versity librarians appreciate the support 
that UGC, as they call it, has given to 
libraries since 1956 and look to it for 
increasing support in the future, not only 
in financing, but also in upholding and 
enforcing high standards for academic 
libraries. 

A large number of universities and in-
stitutes have been founded in India since 
1947, and their libraries often began as 
decentralized departmental or seminar 
collections before a central library build-
ing was available. Hence the question 
of centralization of library resources was 
thoroughly discussed. Opinion of the 
group on the desirability of complete 
centralization was divided, but most of 
those present seemed to favor having 
a central record of the books that are in 
the departmental libraries and central 
control over book acquisition. The col-
leges that are affiliated with a university 
often are numerous and scatte~ed. They 
operate as semi-autonomous institutions 
having their own libraries and often op-
erating quite independently. The im-
portance of close cooperation between 
the college libraries and university li-
braries was also brought out in the dis-
cussion. 

The final session of the seminar was 
devoted to the consideration of thirty-
two recommended resolutions that had 
been prepared by the committee. Since 
these recommendations came out of the 
earlier discussions of the points raised 

in the papers or by the members during 
the sessions that had preceded, they 
were generally approved without much 
further discussion, or with minor changes 
in wording. The full list of resolutions 
need not be given here, but certain of 
them may be of special interest. Two 
resolutions were related to the activities 
of the University Grants Commission: 

To recommend to the UGC that a Stand-
ing Library Committee be appointed to ad-
vise the Commission on all matters concern-
ing the development of libraries. ( 18) 

To recommend to the UGC that a Li-
brary Wing be established with a qualified 
librarian at its head. (19) 

The first of these provides for an ad-
visory committee presumably to be made 
up chiefly of librarians who would not 
be directly employed by or members of 
the UGC. The second provides for an 
office to be established within the UGC 
Secretariat, the librarian employed to 
head the Library Wing thus being an 
employee of the UGC. 

In the realm of finance three general 
resolutions were approved: 

That the forecast of the cost of the aca-
demic library system be worked out for the 
decade 1966-1976. (17) 

That 10 per cent of the university budget 
be provided for the development and man-
agement of the library. (26) 

That all book grants be deemed as non-
lapsable grants for the purpose of audit. 
(28) 

The long-standing problem of imports 
that had been magnified by the devalua-
tion of the rupee was treated in three 
resolutions: 

To recommend to UGC that it should ar-
range to make available to university li-
braries sufficient foreign exchange for the 
import of books, periodicals, reprographic 
and audio-visual materials. Further resolved 
that films , filmstrips , maps, globes, lingua-
phone and long-playing records of educa-
tional value should be allowed to be ad-
mitted duty free. ( 20) 



First Seminar of Indian University Librarians I 329 

That UNESCO coupons be made avail-
able to libraries. (21) 

That the ban on research materials in-
cluding maps, atlases, and publications 
imposed by the Government of India be 
lifted and the libraries be permitted to ob-
tain such materials with special permission. 
(32) 

The first two of these are concerned 
with the problem of limitation on im-
ports because of lack of foreign ex-
change. The third refers to the ban on 
any imports of library materials from 
certain specific countries. 

A number of the resolutions dealt with 
the position of the head librarian and his 
staff: 

That the university librarian be accorded 
the status and privilege of the head of a 
university postgraduate teaching depart-
ment. Further, that the other professional 
staff in the library be accorded faculty 
status and privileges enjoyed by the cadres 
of the teaching staff. ( 1) 

That the university librarian be made a 
member-secretary of the library committee 
and further that the library committee will 
function in an advisory capacity. (2) 

That statutory recognition be given to 
the university librarian. ( 5) 

That the prevailing practice of appoint-
ing honorary librarians should be abolished. 
(14) 

To recommend to the UGC that a li-
brarian be nominated on the visiting com-
mittee appointed to scrutinize quinquennial 
plan proposals of universities. 

To recommend that the university li-
brarian be made an ex-officio member of all 
academic bodies. (22) 

To recommend that the librarian should 
be directly responsible to the vice-chancellor 
of the university for the administration of 
library services and resources of the uni-
versity. ( 23) 

Three resolutions dealt more specific-
ally with salaries and classification of li-
brary staff: 

That the UGC scales of pay for the li-
brary staff be implemented by all the uni-
versities. ( 3) 

That the UGC may not advance financial 
grants to universities which do not imple-
ment the new scales of pay for the library 
staff. ( 4) 

That the designations of library staff be 
rationalised as under: 

DESIGNATION 

EQUIVALENT 

STATUS 

GROUP I Librarian Professor 
Deputy Librarian Reader 
Sr. Asst. Librarian Lecturer 
Jr. Asst. Librarian 

Asst. Lecturer, Instructor 
GROUP II Sr. Library Asst. . 

Technical Assistant 
Jr. Library Asst . . 

Upper Division Clerk 
Assistant . 

Lower Division Clerk 
GROUP III The remaining supporting staff 

to be stenographers, typists, ac-
counts clerks, skilled helpers, 
peons, etc. ( 23) 

Two resolutions were concerned with 
improving inter-library loans: 

That the Draft Code for Interlibrary 
Loans as formulated by the IASLIC (In-
dian Association of Special Libraries and 
Information Centres) be implemented. ( 8) 

To recommend to the Union Govern-
ment that postal rates for books sent out 
on interlibrary loan be reduced in order to 
promote the maximum use of available book 
resources in the country. (9) 

The preparation of tools that would 
be of assistance in interlibrary loan work 
was the subject of two resolutions. In 
the first of these the union list is limited 
to the humanities and social sciences 
because INS DOC (Indian National Sci-
entific Documentation Centre) is com-
piling a union list of serials in science 
and technology: 

That the compilation of a union list of 
serials in the humanities and social sciences 
be undertaken. ( 10) 

That all the academic libraries should 
compile a catalogue of theses and manu-
scripts available with them. ( 11) 



330 I College & Research Libraries • September, 1967 

Finally, probably the most important 
resolution of the group was: 

That the Indian Academic Libraries As-
sociation be revived. ( 29) 

This Association was established about 
five years ago and has been dormant 
for some time. At the eighth session of 
the seminar the question of its revival 
was discussed. One member of the group 
expressed the opinion that the academic 
library organization should be part of 
the Indian Library Association while 
others favored a separate association. It 
was decided to have a meeting of the 
Indian Academic Libraries Association 
to get it re-established, so at the close 
of the eighth session IALA was con-
vened, and a president, B. V. R. Rao, li-
brarian of the Indian Institute of Sci-
ence, was elected, since that office had 
been vacant due to the death last spring 
of S. Das Gupta, librarian of the Uni-
versity of Delhi library. It was decided 
to suspend the constitution temporarily 
and empower Dr. Rao to invite others to 
assist him in getting the Association re-
organized. The question of sponsorship 
of future seminars similar to this one 
had been considered earlier, and it was 
felt that the IALA would be the most 
suitable body to arrange such special 

conferences in addition to having regu-
lar meetings of the Association. 

This summary would not be complete 
without recognizing the very substantial 
contribution that was made to the ad-
vancement of the academic library pro-
fession and library service in general 
by the many very able Indian librarians 
who presented papers and participated 
so actively in the discussions. They very 
kindly honored the American librarians 
present by inviting them to take an ac-
tive part in the proceedings. William W. 
Bennett and Carl White were asked to 
preside as chairmen at two of the im-
portant sessions of the seminar. Papers 
were presented by John C. Crawford 
and John R. Russell and Mrs. Russell. 
Carl White's Survey of the University of 
Delhi Library, published by the Planning 
Unit of the University of Delhi in 1965, 
was reviewed by P. N. Kaula, librarian 
of Banaras Hindu University, and Dr. 
White answered the questions raised and 
explained the purpose of the survey. Li-
brary cooperation had been one of the 
topics discussed at the seminar, and the 
seminar itself provided a splendid oppor-
tunity for increasing the understanding 
of the problems of Indian and American 
libraries that will lead to further national 
and international cooperation. • •