Model Library Acts / Bills in India

Since independence, Six (6) Model Public Library Acts in India have been drafted on different occasions.

Model Library Acts/Bills
Title	Author	Year
Model State Library Act	Dr. S. R. Ranganathan (Revised several times)	1930, revised in 1957 and 1972
Model Union Library Bill (State Level)	Dr. S. R. Ranganathan	1948
Model Public Libraries Bill	Dr. M. D. Sen; Sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Govt. of India	1963
Model Public Libraries Bill	V. K. R. V. Rao; Sponsored by Planning Commission, Govt. of India	1965
Model Public Library and Information Services Act	Dr. V. Venkatappaiah, Sponsored by ILA	1989, revised in 1995 and 2005
Indian Public Library Legislation: A Model for 21st Century	Dr. S. R. Ijari, Professor, University of Karnataka, Dhardwad	2008

Model State Library Act: Prof. Ranganathan prepared ‘Model Library Act’ and presented it at the All Asia Educational Conference held at Banaras in 1930. Later it was revised by him as Model Public Libraries Act in 1957 and again in 1972.

Model Union Library Bill: The Government of India appointed a committee to explore the possibilities to establish a National Central Library at New Delhi in 1948. Dr. S.R. Ranganathan as a Member of the Committee drafted a Model Union Public Library Bill and presented it at the second meeting of the Committee held on 14 May, 1948 which was approved by the Committee. However, no further action was taken by the Government with regard to implementation of the bill. With the efforts of Sir Maurice Gwyer, the then vice-chancellor of Delhi University, the bill was published  in 1950 as a part of ‘Library Development Plan – Thirty Year Programme for India with Draft Library Bills for Union and Constituent States’ (Delhi University, 1950). Ranganathan published a revised Union Bill in his second edition of Five Laws of Library Science in 1957.

Model Public Libraries Bill (State Level): Ministry of Education, Govt. of India after the recommendation of Advisory Committee for Libraries (K. P. Sinha: 1957-59), appointed a Committee under the chairmanship of Dr. M. D. Sen who prepared the Model Public Libraries Bill in 1963.

Model Public Library Bill: A Working Group on Libraries under the chairmanship of Shri V.K.R.V. Rao was appointed by the Planning Commission in 1964 to take a stock of public library development in the country. The Working Group submitted its report on 7^th September 1965. The report was appended by a Model Public Libraries Bill.

Model Public Library and Information Services Act: On the request of Indian Library Association (ILA) Dr. V. Venkatappaiah drafted the Model Public Libraries Act in 1989 which was presented in the National Seminar on Model Public Libraries Act organized by ILA and RRRLF in 1990. The act was then revised as Model Public Library and Information Services Act in 1995 and again in 2005. V. Dr. V. Venkatappaiah also framed Model Public Libraries Rules.

Indian Public Library Legislation: A Model for 21^st Century: Dr. S. R. Ijari, Professor of Dept. of Library and Information Science, Karnatak University, Dharwad drafted the Indian Public Library Legislation: A Model for Twenty-First Century’ in 2008.

National Policy on Library and Information System: The department of Culture, Govt, of India set up a Committee on National Policy of Library and Information System (CONPOLIS) in 1985 under the Chairmanship of Prof. D. P. Chattopadhyay, the then Chairman of RRRLF. CONPOLIS submitted an interim report on March, 1986 and final report on May, 1986.

SELF CHECK EXERCISES

1.  Who is the author of the Model Public Library and Information Services Act?

A.    Venkatappaiah

B.     Dr. M.D. Sen

C.     K. P. Sinha

D.    Dr. S. R. Ranganathan

2.  Who was the chairman of Advisory Committee for Libraries set up by the Government of India in 1957?

A.    Dr. Ranganathan

B.    Prof. C. R. Karisidappa

C.    K. P. Sinha

D.   V.K.R.V. Rao

3.   Who was the chairman of the Committee on ‘National Policy on Library & Information System (NAPLIS)?

A.     K. P. Sinha

B.     Prof. C. R. Karisidappa

C.     Prof. D. P. Chattopadhyay

D.    V. K.R. V. Rao

4.    Who drafted the act ‘Indian Public Library Legislation: A Model for 21^st Century’ ?

A.    Dr. M. D. Sen

B.    V. Venkatappaiah

C.    Dr. S. R. Ijari

D.    Dr. P. N. Kaula

5.   Who was the chairman of the working group setup by the Planning Commission on ‘Modernisation of Library Services and Informatics’?

A.   V. Venkatappaiah

B.    Prof. C. R. Karisidappa

C.    Dr. N. Seshagiri

D.    Dr. C. D. Deshmukh

6.   ‘Model Library Act’ drafted by Dr. Ranganathan was presented in the All Asia Educational Conference in the year ___.

A.    1928

B.    1929

C.    1930

D.    1932