President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday observed that the development of libraries was a measure of the progress of civilisations and history was full of references in which invaders considered it necessary to destroy libraries.
“This shows that libraries have been considered a symbol of the collective consciousness and intellect of a country or society,” Ms. Murmu said.
Inaugurating a ‘Festival of Libraries’ in the national capital, the President said that libraries act as a bridge between civilisations. In ancient and medieval periods, people of many countries carried books from India, translated those and gained knowledge, she said.
Ms. Murmu said that a small book has the potential to change the course of world history and referred to Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography, where he has talked about the impact of John Ruskin’s book Unto This Last on his life.
Minister of State for Culture and Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal, who was also present, said that the ‘Festival of Libraries’ is a step towards the goal of making India a knowledge superpower of the world in the 21st century.
The two-day festival would also see the launch of a ranking system for libraries across India and hold exhibitions on allied crafts like cartography, calligraphy and cursive writing besides setting in motion the creation of a crowd-sourced directory of all reasonably large collections of books in the country.
The programme will also highlight iconic libraries from across the world in order to initiate a conversation on the modernisation and digitisation of libraries in India and discuss a special policy for development of libraries at the village and community levels.
“The festival aims to initiate a dialogue on the modernisation and digitisation of libraries and ignite a resurgence of the reading culture in India. By facilitating advocacy for action-oriented policies, the festival seeks to develop model libraries even at the village and community levels, ensuring that knowledge reaches every nook and corner of the nation,” a senior official in the Union Culture Ministry said.
