Skip to main content

Madras Library Association

About

Madras Library Association (MALA) was founded on 31st January 1928 by Dr. S.R. Ranganathan and Mr. K.V. Krishnanswamy Aiyar . The library movement in the former Madras Presidency originated as part of the national movement for political freedom and social development. The Indian National Congress spearheaded the movement for Swaraj and its annual conferences provided a platform for other organisations with national goals to hold their meetings. The fifth All India Library Conference was held in Madras, along with the Congress session, during the last week of December 1927. As a followup to the deliberations of this conference, through the initiative of Mr. K.V. Krishnanswamy Aiyar and Dr. S.R. Ranganathan, the Madras Library Association (MALA) was founded on 31st January 1928.

During the early years the MALA launched many innovative programmes such as a mobile library service for the rural areas of Mannargudi and Cuddalore; hospital library service; publication of a collection of essays in English and South Indian languages on the "Library Movement" by several distinguished authors; compilation of bibliographical lists; promotion of school libraries and organising essay competitions among school children. 

A programme for training librarians was started in 1929 which was handed over to the University of Madras in 1931. This later developed into a post graduate diploma course and eventually the full-fledged Bachelor's degree course.

Monographs on all aspects of library science such as Five Laws of Library Science, Colon Classification, Classified Catalogue Code and Library Administration were also published which gained international recognition. 

These publications form the basic works for the training programmes conducted by library schools in India and abroad. It took over two decades of perseverence on the part of MALA for the Madras Public Libraries Act to be passed in 1948. This act, the first in the country, proved to be the model for the later acts. To widen the Association's activities and concentrate on college, research and industrial libraries, the need for a permanent abode of its own was felt.

Its former president, the late S.R. Ranganathan had earmarked for the building fund a part of the proceeds of the royalties earned by his books. These funds finally provided the MALA in 1976, with premises --- a wing of the Gokhale Shastri Institue in Mylapore.

Objective

The main objectives of the Association were promotion of the library movement and creation of general awareness, especially among the rural public, of the benefits of using books and libraries. To achieve these, lectures, filmshows, exhibitions, and other activities were organised. The MALA's aims and activities were well received and appreciated both by the public and the government, and by the end of the first year its membership had reached 400, comprising mainly of the elites of Madras

Source: https://www.madraslibraryassociation.com/p/history-early-years-mala-launched-many.html?m=1

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

RDA: RESOURCE DESCRIPTION AND ACCESS

About In the early 2000s, discussion began on a new edition of AACR. In 2004, work on the new edition (AACR3) started and Tom Delsey was appointed as the editor. The JSC decided to revise AACR2 extensively and in December 2004, the draft part I of AACR3 was put out for review. In April 2005, as a result of the reaction to the draft of part I, the JSC decided to scrap AACR3 completely and start fresh in a totally new direction by changing the name of AACR3 to RDA: Resource Description and Access. RDA was decided to be based on the conceptual models Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) and Functional Requirements for Authority Data (FRAD) developed by IFLA which provides a flexible framework to describe all bibliographic resources. FRBR and FRAD provide special attention to digital resources and allows for better efficiency for organizations that use emerging database technologies. In June 2009, the JSC delivered the full text of the new standard to the publishers of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

EBSCO

About EBSCO is the leading provider of research databases, e-journals, magazine subscriptions, e-books and discovery service to libraries of all kinds. For more than 70 years, we’ve partnered with libraries to improve research with quality content and technology.  EBSCO Information Services is a division of EBSCO Industries, Inc., one of the largest privately held and family-owned companies in the United States. EBSCO Industries, Inc. has been in business since 1944. Starting out as a small subscription agency, EBSCO quickly became a pioneer in the library services industry. Through vision, action and innovation, EBSCO invests in the library business to ensure the long-term growth of products, services and technologies for our customers. From research, acquisition management, subscription services and discovery to clinical decision support and patient care, learning, and research and development, EBSCO provides libraries, health care and medical institutions, corporations and gover...
Post a Comment
Read more