Autobiography of Dr S R Rangananthan

Autobiography of Dr S R Rangananthan

(Father of Library Science)

Early Lifetime of Rangananthan:

Dr. Ranganathan was born in a very poor Brahmin family at Shiyali village in Tanjore district in Tamil Nadu on August 9, 1892. He was the eldest kid of N. Ramamrita Ayyar, a petty landlord, and his wife Sitalakshmi. His father died in 1898 at the early age of 30, owing to sickness. He experienced from much more than the usual quota of childhood illnesses and was handicapped by a intense stammer that he eventually in excess of arrived by forcing himself to give speeches in general public.” He attended the regional S. Mudaliar Hindu High College in Shiyali and handed his higher college examination in 1908, acquiring a initially division. Ranganathan handed his Intermediate and B.A. examinations in to start with course as very well, hence proving that he was a dazzling pupil through out his faculty several years. He obtained his B.A. degree in Arithmetic and Physics in 1913 from the University of Madras. Ranganathan determined not to show up at graduate university due to the fact his mother’s fiscal placement was not pretty seem. Professor Edward B. Ross, just one of his professors at Christian Faculty, knew that Ranganathan was a tough working and brilliant college student and he therefore decided to fork out Ranganathan’s tuition for his graduate experiments. Thus Ranganathan joined the Master’s plan in June 1913 as the only graduate university student of Professor Edward B. Ross he graduated in 1916.” He was a lot fascinated in instructing and joined the Teachers Faculty at Saidapat for his Professional Schooling Degree and obtained his diploma in 1917.

In 1917 Ranganathan was appointed assistant lecturer in Mathematics at the Governing administration Faculty in Mangalore. In 1920-21, he taught at Authorities University, Coimbatore, and in 1921 he was appointed Assistant Professor at the Presidency School. Madras, in which he taught for two several years, in the course of his educating decades in these establishments, he taught mathematics and physics and encouraged his learners to use library textbooks. So he avoided “the prevalent very trainer-centered and notes/ dictation classroom approaches. Afterwards he identified as his solution library centered educating his learners named him a born teacher.”

1924 was a pretty vital year in Ranganathan’s life. He utilized for the placement of University Librarian at the University of Madras and was available the situation. “One of the disorders of his appointment was that he goes to Excellent Britain to be qualified in librarianship and to examine fashionable library strategies.” For that reason, he had to come to a decision among librarianship and the instructing of mathematics. In his own text, “I had under no circumstances dreamt in my existence that I would at any time become a librarian nor experienced I applied a library possibly at faculty or at school when I was a pupil, for the straightforward reason that there was no library worth mentioning and for the more reason that no teacher ever outlined any book other than the approved text reserve. But it appears that he observed some challenge in librarianship and it “struck him as a virgin land pregnant with lots of choices” of improvement and introduction of new tips. It was a area “the place techniques necessary to be systematized and produced precise.” With this in brain he recognized the posture and grew to become a librarian on January 4, 1924. In this way “India misplaced one of her most enthusiastic arithmetic instructors and librarianship obtained a guy whose mental solution was of a strictly scientific and mathematically correct mother nature.”

Ranganathan as a Librarian, 1924-1972

In the beginning, Ranganathan did not enjoy his new administrative position at the College of Madras and the adjust of his job from leaching to librarianship. In his possess phrases, “I felt shocked by the absence of anything at all truly worth-when to do in the library [and was] practically tempted to go again to my training work.” He in truth did return to Presidency College or university in a week and explained to the principal that “I won’t be able to bear that solitary imprisonment working day soon after day. No human currently being, other than the team. How diverse from the daily life in the higher education” Mr. H.S. Duncan, Principal of the higher education, pacified Ranganathan by declaring, “You have not noticed a lot of librarianship but, you may well uncover one thing in it immediately after you have researched the issue in London if you experience bored even just after you return from England, I shall unquestionably just take you. I shall see that your area in the college is not completely loaded up “until you occur again from your travel and instruction overseas.” By some means, Ranganathan made a decision to postpone his selection and check out librarianship for some time.

In September 1924 Ranganathan was despatched to England by the University of Madras for expert coaching in librarianship. He graduated with honors from the School of Librarianship University of London, in 1925. Even though in London, he visited many tutorial and public libraries and was amazed with the progress of libraries in England. Throughout his college student days, he grew to become close to Professor W.C. Berwick Sayers, Chief Librarian of Croydon Public Library and a lecturer in the School of Librarianship. His knowledge and kindness set Ranganathan in personal debt to British librarianship for the relaxation of his existence. At that time, Ranganathan in all probability would under no circumstances have dreamed that some working day he would turn out to be an international figure in librarianship. Ranganathan “experienced meant to stop by libraries in the United States ahead of returning to India in 1925 but a call from the College of Madras induced him to go back again dwelling.”

Ranganathan grew to become a experienced librarian and returned to India, total of enthusiasm and new ideas with the mission of introducing reforms and bringing about advancement in his possess library at the University of Madras. But sad to say the profession of librarianship was continue to “not far too effectively understood in India at that time. He also encountered torpor, irritation, and a Jack of comprehending on the component of the university adminis¬tration.”A hugely placed training officer with the Condition Federal government of Madras after despatched a take note of recommendation to Ranganathan which said, “The bearer, you will uncover, is extremely aged. He appeared for the S.S.L.C. evaluation a lot more than a dozen times. There is no prospect of his passing it in this life. How can he get even a clerk’s put up? But I am interest¬ed in him.” So these had been the circumstances and environment in the College of Madras Library in 1925. But Ranganathan devoted himself thoroughly to bringing substantially necessary reforms to the college library. He was “effervescent with new believed, throb¬bing with new power, fluttering with new principles, total of enthusiasm and singleness of goal. He was, therefore, in a position to switch a new leaf to librarianship.

Ranganathan reorganized the Madras College Library utilizing new gadgets and methods which he had learnt in England for the duration of his faculty times in the library school and by going to a lot of libraries in England. “He realised that librarianship was more than an artwork, it ought to be a science, based on scientific strategy for its method to its challenges and for their alternative.” One of Ranganathan’s initial steps upon his return from England was to introduce the open access technique in the library in 1929. “The regulations had been progressively liberalized right until any scholar, living any where in the point out, could use the library and borrow from it. He effectively launched the inter-library financial loan system in the city of Madras and all libraries partici¬pated in this cooperative software.” His most important concern was to entice a lot more customers to the college library and give them right facilities. “He employed mass media and particular acquaintances to make the library hum with exercise, and the University Library before long obtained a specialized niche, in the entire world of the enlightened public of Madras.

The once-a-year funds of the library was extremely reduced when Ranganathan took its administrative duty. But he shown the will need for much more resources and succeeded in obtaining an once-a-year grant of £5,000 on a statutory foundation from the Federal government of Madras and a lump sum of £20,000 to improve the collection. Under Ranganathan’s administration, the College of Madras Library had “the major funds of all the university libraries in the country.” It helped to improve the assortment from 30,000 volumes in 1925 to 120,000 in 1944, the 12 months Ranganathan resigned from his situation. “The library several hours have been progressively extended right up until the library was kept open for 13 hrs a day, all the days of the 12 months, include¬ing Sundays and other general public vacations.” Ranganathan launched a new service for graduate college students, “Shipping of publications in the homes of viewers,” at a really nominal demand. Lots of college students favored this and served Ranganathan to make lots of new pals and library people. The library was also thrown open up to the public and the public loved it.

Ranganathan also introduced a reference company at Madras. 5 reference librarians served the college and pupils for all the several hours the library was open up. He was instru¬mental in founding the Madras Library Association in 1928 and assisted the point out library association to mature and turn out to be a chief in its have correct. He was the Secretary of the condition library association from 1928-1953, Vice-President from 1953-1957, and President from 1958-1967. He wished to enhance librarian ship and libraries in India and was of the belief that library teaching be presented in India, fairly than sending everybody to England. In 1929 he succeeded in introducing a coaching class for librarians at Madras, with the aid of the Madras Library Affiliation. In 1930, Ranganathan was created a fellow of the British Library Affiliation.
Ranganathan was rapidly becoming incredibly common and prosperous in library circles. In 1931 he released his environment popular 5 Legal guidelines of Library Science. In 1933 he launched his new Colon Classification Method to the relaxation of the globe, and in 1934 he drafted a new ‘Classified Catalogue Code’. In 1933 he served to located the Indian Library Affiliation, an organization which turned the genuine representative of Indian librarianship. He was the initial expert librarian to grow to be President of the Association in 1944. Ranganathan “also intended the quite useful University (of Madras) Library creating, made in a picturesque place and the provisions made for the advancement of the library proved satisfactory for approximately 40 years. The British Indian Federal government identified and appreciated the contributions of Ranganathan to the area of librarianship and conferred the title of Rao Sahib on him in January 1935.”

Ranganathan was the University Librarian and Head of the Section of Library Science from 1924 to 1944. All through these twenty yrs he “produced the Madras College Library his laboratory and for each se the most modern-day library in India of which evens the foreigners felt envious.” He resigned from his posture in 1944 owing to some internal complications with a couple of employees users in the library. But Professor Isaac is of the perspective that “Dr. Ranganathan voluntarily retired from the College of Madras following the bare minimum interval of services of 20 years qualifying for a pension in buy to choose up the post of librarian in the Banaras Hindu University, on invitation. K. Nagaraja Rao, former librarian of the Annamalai College, is however of the view that “Dr. Ranganathan was requested to depart the Madras University Library. Because of these conflicting statements, it has been difficult to identify the genuine trigger of his departure from Madras. The information of the College simply just say that Dr. S.R. Ranganathan resigned from his posture in 1944. But had he been fired from Madras University, I do not feel he would have specified Rs. 100,000 to the College in 1957 for the progress of library science. It has been mentioned by a handful of Indian library educators and librarians, which include Girja Kumar in his letter of November 22, 1982, that for the duration of the 1940s, “Ranganathan turned the sufferer of the anti-Brahmin motion that spread far and large in Tamil Nadu.” Hence he resigned from his placement at Madras College.

According to individually ask for of Dr. Radhakrishnan, the Vice-Chancellor of the Banaras Hindu College he determined to come to Banaras University. He remained at Varanasi in 1945 to 1947 as the Head of the Division of Library Science and College Librarian. In this time Ranganthan drafted the syllabus and taught the Diploma Study course in Library Science. Dr. Rangananthan resigned from Banaras Hindu College in 1947 and joined the College of Delhi with request of Sri Maurice Gwyer, Vice- Chancellor of the Delhi College. In the period of time of the Ranganthan the Master’s and Ph.D. applications in Library Science have been began at the University of Delhi.

On March 7, 1948, in the current of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Key Minister of India and a lot of other officers, Sri Maurice Gwyer honored to the Dr. Ranganthan “Father of Indian Library Science” and presented him to Governor Typical, Lord Mountbatten, Chancellor of the University of Delhi. In 1953 he arranged Madras Library Associations, C.Rajagopalachari a former Governor-Normal of India in contrast to Pandit Nehru since Nehru had secured for India in the international political earth and Dr.Ranganthan had secured for India in the global library globe. In 1955 Dr.Ranganthan resigned from the University of Delhi. In 1957, Dr.Ranganthan was a traveling to Professor of Library Science at Vikram College in Ujjain. He has awarded “Padma Shri” in 1957 by the president of India, late Dr. Ranjendra Prasad in Delhi. In this 12 months he was built an Honorary Vice-President for everyday living of the British Library Association and an Honorary Fellow of the Intercontinental Federation for Documentation.

Ranganthan contributed his provider in Indian Library Science from 1924 to 1972. When he was in age of 80, he was move away sort the earth, on September 27, 1972. We unfastened a wonderful individual, Father of Library Science, the innovator of the Indian Library, the creator of Colon Classification and no a single can fulfill this area.