Role of Library in Modern Society

1. Role of Libraries and Information
Centres in Modern Society
Dr. Shamim Aktar Munshi
Librarian
Ananda Chandra College, Jalpaiguri

2. Introduction
 In the modern information society, libraries and information
centres have a new role to play.
 This is due to increasing use of web-based information
sources and electronic services.
 Libraries play an important role in the socio-economic,
cultural and educational development of a society.

3. Library as a Social Institution
i) It helps the life-long self-education of one and all;
ii) It furnishes up-to-date facts and information on all subjects to everyone;
iii) It disseminates to everyone, in an unbiased and balanced way, all shared
recorded views and thoughts;
iv) It provides opportunities for positive use of leisure time to one and all;
v) It preserves the literary and cultural heritage of humanity for antiquarian
research.

4. Library and Modern Society
• To assemble, organize, preserve, socialize, and serve all expressed
knowledge;
• To help in the perpetual self-education of one and all;
• To help in the contemporary development of knowledge;
• To conserve the research time of humanity by the separation of literature
search from positive search;
• To increase the economic resources of humanity to the extent necessary to
maintain the ever-increasing population, in comfort and free from want of any
kind.

5. The Role of Library in
Education
Formal
Education
Non-
Formal
Education
Education
of Illiterates
Education for
Physically
Challenged
people

6. Role of Library in
Research
The
Information
Desk
Bibliograp
hies
The
Periodicals
The
Reference
Room

7. Role of Library in Cultural Activities
• These programmes primarily fall in the domain of public libraries.
• The first cultural role of the library is that it preserves the cultural
heritage of the human race as represented by the books and other
documents it holds.
• It should also organise cultural programmes like music concerts, dances,
dramas, painting competitions for children, exhibition of paintings,
etc. and thus enrich the cultural life of the community.

11. Role of Library in Disseminating
Information
• Libraries, through their books, are actually repositories of information
and knowledge.
• Information is indispensable for any human activity aiming at social
progress.
• The researcher, the teacher, the student, the administrator, the industrial
and business manager, the artisan, the entrepreneur, the farmer, the
worker in the factory and the field, all need the information to equip,
themselves better for the fruitful pursuit of their respective vocations.

12. Role of Library in Religious and
Spiritual Institutions
 Spiritual and religious books, books that propound ideological
themes and other books of permanent value which may be
described as classics are books of inspiration.
 They meet the spiritual, religious and ideological needs of
their readers.

13. Role of Library in Recreation and
Leisure
• The healthy use of leisure is a matter of great importance in community
life so that leisure time is not devoted to negative and destructive
activities.
• Novels and other forms of literature, works of art, books of travels,
biographies, popular magazines, etc., are primarily books of recreation
and they should have a place in every library.
• Besides, libraries, especially public libraries are various organise cultural
programmes.

14. Role of Library for Solving day-to-day
Problems
Library helps to the local people by providing various types of
information such as basic education programme, employment
news, local and political news, information regarding
livelihood, health information, transport information, consumer
information, travel plan, blood donation and health camp and
planning for horticulture etc., and solve their day-to-day
problems.