12th August is Celebrated as National Librarian’s Day in India

Dr. S R Ranganathan (1892-1972)

Ranganathan, born on 9 August 1892, came from a moderate background in British-ruled India. He was born in the small town of Shiyali (now known as Sirkazhi), in the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India.
Ranganathan began his professional life as a mathematician; he earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in mathematics from Madras Christian College in his home province, and then went on to earn a teaching license. His lifelong goal was to teach mathematics, and he was successively a member of the mathematics faculties at universities in Mangalore, Coimbatore and Madras (all within the span of five years). As a mathematics professor, he published a handful of papers, mostly on the history of mathematics. His career as an educator was somewhat hindered by a handicap of stammering (a difficulty Ranganathan gradually overcame in his professional life). The Government of India awarded Padmashri to Dr. S.R. Ranganathan for valuable contributions to Library Science.

Five Laws of Library Science:
• Books are for use
• Every reader his/her book
• Every book, its reader
• Save the time of the reader
• A library is a growing organism

August 12th is being celebrated as National Librarian’s Day in India, in remembrance of national professor of library science, Dr S R Ranganathan (1892-1972), who had spearheaded library development in India.

Text of Classic Books by Dr. S R Ranganathan:

• Ranganathan, S. R. (1989) Philosophy of Library Classification. Sarada Ranganathan Endowment for Library Science (Bangalore, India).
• Ranganathan, S. R. (1973) New education and school library: Experience of half a century. Vikas Publishing (Delhi, India).
• Ranganathan, S. R. (1967) Prolegomena to Library Classification. Asia Publishing House (New York).
• Ranganathan, S. R. (1951) Classification and Communication. University of Delhi (Delhi, India).
• Ranganathan, S. R. (1951) Documentation Genesis and Development. Vikas Publishing House (Delhi, India).
• Ranganathan, S. R. (1931) The Five Laws of Library Science. Madras Library Association (Madras, India) and Edward Goldston (London, UK).