DERGAON, Oct 15 - The newly elected president of Assam College Librarians� Association (ACLA) has advocated better library services in the State.
After being elected president at the 15th biennial session of ACLA held at Tinsukia Commerce College on October 11-12, the new president resolved to work for the betterment of library services in college libraries in particular and in public libraries in general.
On being contacted, the elected president Srimanta Madhav Bora told The Assam Tribune that he would look forward to impress upon the authority concerned to fulfil the demands of the ACLA.
�Sanction of assistant librarians in the college libraries for smooth functioning of digital library activities is the need of the hour. Similarly, appointment of librarians in Deendayal Upadhyay colleges and also to fill up the vacant posts in the college libraries should be taken up in right earnest by the Government,� he added.
�Enactment of the Public Library Service Act in the State as per the draft Act submitted by Dr SR Ranganathan and accepted by the then State Government in 1964 is a must for better public library service in the State,� he opined.
Further, the new president also reiterated the demand for appointment of librarians in high/higher secondary schools. Interacting with this Correspondent, the new president also demanded a separate State Central Library (SCL) with a Government repository of all the NE States. This was a long-pending demand since the shifting of the State capital from Shillong.
The biennial session was attended by Prof. Narendra Nath Sarma, Prof. Narendra Lahkar, Head of the Department of Library and Information Science, Gauhati University, Prof. Sanjay Singh, Librarian of Tezpur University Dr Mukesh Saikia etc.
Established in 1973, ACLA is doing its level best for all-round development of library service in the State. Srimanta Madhav Bora, who is Librarian of JDSG College, Bokakhat, will assume charge as the fifth president of ACLA after Ajit Sarmah, Biswanarayan Shashtri, Prof. Aloka Buragohain and outgoing president Prof. Narendra Lahkar. The new secretary of ACLA is the Librarian of KC Das College, Guwahati, Dr Prasanta Deka.
It may be pertinent to mention that he is the first college Librarian to hold the post of the president in the annals of ACLA.
