Book exhibition marks start of National Library Week in Mysuru

MYSURU: National Library Week celebrations began at the City Central Library in People’s Park here on Saturday with the inauguration of a book exhibition and sale organised by the National Book Trust (NBT) of India.

Observed from November 14 to 20 every year to commemorate the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, National Library Week aims to promote reading habits and create greater awareness about the importance of libraries and books.

Dr. C.P. Ramesh, retired librarian of the University of Mysore, and members of the City Library Authority inaugurated the programme by lighting the lamp.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Ramesh emphasised the need to introduce innovative programmes and activities to cultivate reading habits among children and youth. He called for remembering the contributions of S.R. Ranganathan, the father of library science in India, and strengthening the country’s reading culture. Citing the importance given to reading in countries such as China and the United States, he urged students to make reading an integral part of their lives.

Presiding over the programme, Dr. V. Shanmugam, Principal of Maharaja’s College and Vice-Chairman of the City Library Authority, said reading was essential to distinguish knowledge from ignorance. Warning against blindly accepting information generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI), he stressed the need to develop the ability to verify information.

Chief guest Divya Jyothi, Assistant Professor of Kannada at Siddhartha College and member of the People’s Park Branch Library Committee, referred to the reading interests of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. She said library activities should be celebrated with the enthusiasm associated with festivals and weddings. Children should be encouraged to visit libraries from an early age, creating an atmosphere in which libraries become as welcoming as places of worship.

Dr. S. Nagaraju, retired librarian of the Regional Institute of Education, delivered a special lecture on S.R. Ranganathan’s Five Laws of Library Science, Colon Classification and the Dewey Decimal Classification system.

Membership registration and an enrolment campaign were also launched. Good readers from various branch libraries and service centres in Mysuru were felicitated with mementoes.

City Central Library representative Manjunath B. welcomed the gathering and outlined the significance of National Library Week. He said a series of activities, including cultural programmes, discussions, a best librarian award presentation, a play and a workshop on mental stress, had been planned during the week.

Dr. B. Mallikarjuna Swamy, Vice-Principal of Government Girls’ High School, People’s Park, book publishers D.N. Lokappa, Mahesh and Shashikumar, Balya Foundation founders Anil and Uma Anil, library officials, students and readers attended.

Kusuma M. compered the programme, while H.V. Ramesh, librarian of Chamarajendra Academy of Visual Arts, proposed the vote of thanks.

The speakers observed that libraries were vital democratic institutions that promote learning, critical thinking, creativity and community development. They said an informed community, built through reading and knowledge-sharing, would contribute significantly to national progress.