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

Dheeraj Singh Negi

“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.” 

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. 

Education

Ranganathan's education was initiated on Vijayadasami day in October, 1897 with Aksharabyasam at Ubhayavedanthapuram near Shiyali. After this, Ranganathan was admitted to a school in Shiyali, and was handed to the care of Subba Ayyar, a brother of his maternal grandfather and a primary school teacher. During his school days, Ranganathan came under the influence of two of his teachers who shaped his mind -R. Antharama Ayyar and Thiruvenkatachariar, the Sanskrit teacher. From them Ranganathan learnt about the life teachings of nayanars (Shaivaite Bhaktas) and Always (Vaishnavaite Bhaktas

ingrained in Ranganathan which kept in good stead in his later life to make decisions at crucial junctures.Ranganathan attended the S.M. Hindu High School at Shiyali and passed Matriculation examination in 1908/1909. Ranganathan passed the examination in First Class, inspite of sickness like anaemia, piles, and stammering. In his high school career he came under the influence of P.A. Subramanya Ayyar, a scholar on Sri

Aurobindo.

Prof. Skinner spotted him in a crowd of students and admitted him into the course. Ranganathan passed B.A. with a first class in March/April 1913. In June, same year, he joined the M.A. class in Mathematics with Professor Edward B. Ross as his teacher. Being a favourite student of Prof. Ross, Ranganathan had an excellent Guru-Shishya relationship. More than class room discussions, corridor and staircase discussions were taken recourse to. Ranganathan ingrained this trait into his own discipline later

• Ranganathan joined the junior intermediate class at the Madras Christian College in March 1909. Even in those days, there were paucity of college seats. Ranganathan was picked up for his excellent marks in all the subjects and the principal.

Teaching Career

• In 1917 Ranganathan was appointed to the Subordinate Education Service and worked as Assistant Lecturer in the Government College in Mangalore and Coimbatore between 1917 and 1921. In July 1921, he joined the Presidency College, Madras as Assistant Professor of Mathematics. At Mangalore and Coimbatore, Ranganathan taught Physics and Mathematics and at the Presidency College, he taught Algebra, Trigonometry and Statistics. He was a follower of the individual method of teaching putting discussion method into active use.

• The classes used to be lively, learning - active, and teaching - purposive. Ranganathan earned an epithet born teacher. He would interpose his teaching with many anecdotes and examples from life which would keep his students engaged and attentive. Each hour of his class used to be punctuated by applauses. He also adopted the technique of assigning students with new topics, to gather data from books, and learning from discussions among themselves and amidst teachers. He organised several seminars and colloquia for students. He continued the same methods with greater vigour while teaching Library Science to students.

Towards Librarianship

• Ranganathan left Presidency College in January 1924 to take appointment as the first librarian of Madras University. It was natural for Ranganathan - who was a lively teacher and had thrilling intellectual experiences with students and faculties of the Presidency College - not to opt for the post of librarian, even though it carried a handsome salary. Ranganathan quite often narrated to us that he never wished to be a librarian. He said that Providence had made him one, for which he never regretted in his later life. In spite of his diffidence and lack of interest, his colleagues and supervisors - being keen on using his innate abilities — saw to his appointment as the Librarian of the Madras University in 1924.

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 . 

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) 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).