Library Services for Children

Library Services for Children is, literally, a pathbreaking book. A strikingly original work, this is the first comprehensive treatise on library services for the entire juvenile population falling in the age group 2 to 14. It going age and literate youngsters but pre-schoolers, the physically challenged, the illiterate and the delinquent particularly the last two categories, whom librarians tend to totally ignore, as well. Although written in the background of Indian society, it is relevant to the underprivileged in all developing countries as well as in the developed industrial countries. The author sees librarianship not just as a profession but as a means of social service aimed at the cultural and social upliftment of the community. And the library is viewed more as a center for conscientisation than a mere resource center. In extending library services to all children, author hopes, the socially and culturally deprived child, instead of growing up to be a defeatist as it usually happens, will achieve, as he grows, a deepening awareness of the social reality that shapes his life and develops the inherent ability to transform that reality. And what he has acquired through the services provided by the library, is expected to equip him to accomplish that transformation. The book bristles with burning idealism, for which is may be faulted by many librarians but therein lies its strength. No library service, which to the author is synonymous with social service, is possible without such idealism, which has to be the driving force of a librarian. In the first chapter, the author traces the development of the philosophy of library service in relation to the changing phases of society, from, so to speak, the threshold of historic times to the modern times. And the reader finds that the modern philosophy of library service is in keeping with the democratic spirit of the society of the twenty-first millennium. But as he reads further, he realizes that the ground situation leaves much to be desired, as theory becomes a reality only when it truly grips the people. This realization impels the reader to carry out the tasks set in the succeeding chapters. An inspiring book that every committed librarian ought to read may, possess.