New
Delhi, Jan 31:
President Shri Pranab Mukherjee will
launch the National Mission on Libraries (NML), an ambitious and lofty
initiative of the Ministry of Culture to modernise and digitally link public
libraries across the country, at a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan on February
3.
On the occasion, Shri Mukherjee will formally
inaugurate the NML’s guidelines, logo and website in the presence of Culture
Minister Smt. Chandresh Kumari Katoch and senior officials of the ministry, a
top bureaucrat revealed today.
Nine important constituents of the NML (nmlindia.nic.in)
include upgradation of infrastructure, digitization and modernisation, census
of libraries and their development as knowledge centres and transformation of
libraries into empowering and inclusive institutions, Mr V Srinivas, Joint
Secretary with the Union Ministry of Culture, told a press conference here.
Approved by the government in November last year,
NML was set up in pursuance of a report of the National Knowledge Commission,
which recommended a total revamp of the Library and Information Service sector
to serve the changing needs and expectations of the users and give a fillip to
the library movement in the country. “The NML plans to build a knowledge
society by bringing in libraries across the country on a single platform,” Mr
Srinivas pointed out.
Under the scheme, six libraries under the Culture
Ministry, 35 Central Libraries in states and 35 District Libraries will be
developed as model libraries. Emphasis will on developing these libraries in
economically backward districts. Further, 628 district libraries across the
states would be provided network connectivity. For setting up of the model
libraries, existing libraries would be identified in consultation with the
state governments to improve infrastructure and upgrade technology used by
them.
NML also intends to create a National Virtual
Library of India in the national capital to facilitate a comprehensive database
on digital resources, carry out a census on the resources available in the
libraries and conduct a study on the reading habits in different regions of the
country.
In the revamped libraries, cataloguing will be
done not only of books and journals but also of all policies of the government
in public domain to facilitate easy access and research work. Efforts will also
be made to provide reading material in a multilingual mode.
Besides upgrading the infrastructure of public
libraries, a major component of NML is to initiating need-based training
programmes to develop managerial skills and IT competencies of their personnel
in tune with demands of the Internet era.
The chief objectives of NML are to create a world
class library system, foster reading habits, facilitate research work and
provide information to people in a timely and convenient manner which is also
universal and equitable.
The execution of the scheme will entail an
expenditure of Rs 400 crore during the 12th Plan period (2012-17), and it is
designed to benefit the entire spectrum of population — students, researchers,
scientists, professionals, children, artists and differently abled
persons. While the survey of
libraries would be completed within one year, the other objectives of the
scheme would be achieved by the end of the 12th Plan period.
Kolkata-based Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation
is the nodal agency for the implementation of NML, a 10-member body headed by
Prof. Deepak Pental, former Vice Chancellor of Delhi University.
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