Development of College Libraries in Mizoram

Mizoram is strategically located in the North- Eastern part of India and is one of the members of the group of States that is commonly designated as seven sisters of the North East India. It is located between the State of Assam and Manipur to the north, to the east and south by Myanmar and to the west by Bangladesh and the State of Tripura. Mizoram is covered with hills and is located at the remote North East India having a literacy rate of 88.8%, the second highest literacy rate in India. Education System of Mizoram: Before 1989 There was one Department of Education which was administered under Directorate of Education. In 1993, The Department of Education was trifucated into three Departments namely School Education, Art & Culture and Higher & Technical Education resulting to establishment of separate Directorate of Higher and Technical under which Colleges are functioning. Since the 2nd July, 2001 the State of Mizoram has separate Central University by an Act of Parliament. With the establishment of Mizoram University the long cherished desire for promoting higher education in the State came to reality. There are 28 Colleges affiliated to this University. Importance of College Library: The progress and prosperity of a society largely depends on the total wealth of knowledge. Hence, the College Library occupies an important position in learning and teaching programmes in Mizoram Educational system. It is the reservoirs of accumulated knowledge of the past and the presents. According to the Secondary Education Commission of India (1952-1953),‖The library will be the hub and centre of the intellectual and literary life of the recognised educational institution and plays the same part vis-à-vis all the other subjects as the laboratory plays for Science subjects or the Workshop for technical subjects‖ The Library preserves all the sources of information available at times for reference. It provides an environment encouraging study and reading as well as services that support student pursuits for academic success and faculty endeavors for knowledge creation and classroom instructions. The Education Commission (1964-1966) highlights ―Without a good library high quality instruction and research in Colleges and Universities would be entirely inconceivable‖. The Education Policy (1986) also envisages provisions for library facilities and improvements in all the educational institutions.

The aims and objectives of the College Library are: 1) To generate curiosity and eagerness among the students. 2) To assist them for using the available reading materials in the College library 3) To supplement the teaching imparted in the classes. 4). To serve the undergraduate students by fulfilling as an independent teaching agency for encouraging as well as promoting the use of books and other materials apart from those reguired or suggested by the teachers. Development of College libraries in Mizoram: The development of College Libraries depend on the development of the Colleges themselves. The first ever College in Mizoram was established in 1958 at Aizawl with generous financial support of a wealthy philanthrophist Mr. Pachhunga and for his

increasing demand for establishment of more Colleges from various towns of the State resulting to the establishment of Lunglei and Champhai College in 1964 and 1971 respectively. Aizawl College, the second of its kind in the Capital of Mizoram came up in 1975.Prior to establishment of Aizawl College in 1975, Serchhip College has been established at Serchhip in the year 1973. In the year 1978, Both Kolasib and Saiha College were established in 1978, In the year 1980, the number of Colleges in Mizoram goes up by the establishment of three Colleges namely Hrangbana College at Aizawl, Zirtiri College at Aizawl and Lawngtlai College at Lawngtlai. Thereafter, the following years saw more Colleges established in other townships like one more at Lunglei, Mamit, Saitual, Zawlnuam, Khawzawl so as to add the growing number of Colleges in Mizoram. Thus, along with the establishment of the Colleges, the library of each College also automatically started functioning and developed gradually. Library Fund: College Library requires more adequate fund for procurement of more study materials and for maintenance of the library. In Mizoram, the Government has fixed Rs 300/- per student for one academic session as College library fee which is mandatory for all the Colleges. The State Government does not make separate budget provision for the College libraries and as such the primary source of the College libraries are drawn from students‘ library fees. There are 28 Colleges in Mizoram under 2(f)/12(B) of the UGC Act,1956 which are eligible for receiving Central funds from the UGC. In order to receive grants from UGC, there are certain norms and standards to be fulfilled by the Colleges. UGC has sanctioned Grants-in-aid for College development under different schemes during the 12th plan which includes funds for procurement of Books and Journals. The main financial source of College libraries in Mizoram is UGC Grants for developing the College libraries and subsequently from RUSA. Unless the funds from the UGC as well as RUSA is received by the Colleges the development of the College libraries in Mizoram will certainly become stagnant.

Collection Development: A good collection in the library is very important for users i.e. students, teachers and non-teaching staff. In Colleges, a good quality output is greatly depended on information or documents which are stored in a library. Every College library should have a basic collection such them do not have CD ROM collection and not subscribing electronic resources and e-database from any library consortia and most of the College library does not subscribe sufficient number of journals. Library Committee: Almost all the Colleges have Library Committee comprising: Chairman : Principal Secretary : Librarian Members : All Heads of Department or Representatives The Library Committee is responsible for supervision and management of the College Library as well as allocating funds to each and every Teaching Department on need-based. The documents required for the Department is selected by the concerned Teachers and generally reference books by the Librarian. Classification: A library collection can be organized systematically in a subject wise, based on Decimal class numbers. Decimal class numbering with subject wise of document is simple to arrangement and help to search easily a right book for the users. Majority of the College library using Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) for classifying their library materials and is done by the Library staff. Collection of some College libraries is partially unclassified. . Accessibility: Another important service of the Mizoram College library is accessibility of materials to the users.In a library, every user have a right to access freely to their required documents. College libraries of Mizoram follow either open or closed access or both to their collection. Most of the College libraries in Mizoram follows an Open Access System. Library Users: The user community of College library includes students, teachers and non-teaching staff. College Library used to conduct user education such as Users‘Orientation Programme or Users‘ Education Programme.It is found that the number of students using the library collection is decreasing day by day due to spoon-feeding system of education and rapid development of ICT. Library services: The College libraries generally offer the following services : 1. Circulation services 2. Reference services

4. Bibliographic service 5. Reprographic service 6. Inter library loan service Library Automation and Networking Environment: Since 2005 automation of the College libraries started and very few College libraries have been started automation activities. The cause of late and slow automation process in the College libraries of Mizoram are: 1. Lack of proper direction. 2. Lack of technical training 3. Lack of needed infrastructure 4. Lack of staff input 5. Lack of support from management 6. Lack of long-range planning At present, majority of the College libraries has started and implemented partial automation of their College libraries using SOUL 2.0 software developed by INFLIBNET (an autonomous body of the UGC), Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Many of the College libraries have been able to access e-books and e-journals under NLIST programme of INFLIBNET.

In Mizoram, College Libraries face many problems pertaining to development of the College Libraries as well as effectiveness of library services. Most of the problems of the college libraries in Mizoram are inadequate number of library staff, meagre collections, inadequate finance and lack of separate library buildings, etc. All those problem need to be solved by the authorities so that the libraries could fulfill their objectives as well as in disseminating information and developing better library services. The State Government should take keen interest in developing College libraries by way of creating more posts of Librarians and Staff and more funding that will enhance better quality of library services. It should be suggested that implementation of the concept of digital library in the Colleges of Mizoram is necessary and challenging for survival of the library services in the years to come.

1. Anand, J. K. (1982). Role of library in the life of College students, Library Herald, 21(1-2), pp. 4045. 3. Gopal, Krishan (2003). Library collections: Conundrums and contradictions. Delhi. 4. Nair Raman, R. (1996). College Library Development. New Delhi: Ess Ess Publication 6. Nath, Mahendra (2001). Handbook of Library services. Jaipur: Pointer Publisher 7. Rajasekhera, K. and Nair Raman, R. (1991). Academic Library Development: Perspective in Academic L ibrarianship-1.New Delhi, Ess Ess Publication 8. Govt.Aizawl North College (2016). Role of library in Higher Education; Problems & Prospects (National Seminar Proceedings)

College Librarian (Selection Grade), Govt. Serchhip College