DR.S.R.RANGATHAN
Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan (SRR) was first child of father N. Ramamrita Ayyar and mother Seethalakshmi Ammal; born on 9th August 1892 in a small town called Shiyali (currently known as Sirkazhi) inTanjavoor(currentlyNagapattinam) district of erstwhile Madras Presidency (currently Tamil Nadu) in Southern India. But the official records display his birthdate as 12th August – on basis of which National Librarians Day is celebrated every year.
SRR’s ‘Aksharabyasam’ – a ceremony held by Hindu families as first step in education was conducted in 1897. He attended the Sabhanayaka Mudaliar’s Hindu High School at Shiyali and passed Matriculation examination in 1908/09 after which he joined Madras Christian College for intermediate 1909-10. He completed B.A. in year 1913 and M.A. in Mathematics in 1916. After education, he wanted to be a teacher in mathematics so took teaching technique course from 1916-17 in Professional Education, Teachers’ College, Saidapet, Madras and later L.T. degree in year 1917.
After education was completed SRR was appointed to the Subordinate Education Service in 1917 and worked as Assistant Lecturer in the Government College in Mangalore and later at Coimbatore till where he taught Physics and Mathematics. In 1921, he joined the Presidency College, Madras as Assistant Professor of Mathematics where he taught Algebra, Trigonometry and Statistics. He enjoyed teaching and was a popular teacher undertaking a lot of activities during his time.
In 1923 a position of librarian was created in Madras University and applications were called for the post. One of SRR’s friend persuaded him to apply for it which SRR did so, albeit a little reluctantly. There were 900 applicants but unfortunately for SRR none met the research requirements of committee other than him. In January 1924 he was appointed as the first librarian of Madras University. He was reluctant to take on an administrative position as he loved teaching and within a week was back pleading Principal for his old teaching job. But the Principal pacified him by promising to take him back if he felt the same way after his return from England as recounted in “A librarian looks back” published in ‘Herald of Library Science’ in 1963.
He had a strong work ethic and never let his disinterest come in way of work. He left for England in 1924 for 9 months on study-cum-observation tour where he met and trained as apprentice with W.C. Berwick Sayers, Chief Librarian of Croydon Public Library and completed Honors Certificate in School of Librarianship, University College of London. During his time in London he came across a toy erector set Meccano at Selfridges departmental store in London which inspired him to draft the Colon Classification where various elements could be combined to meet specific needs which he applied in giving classification number using PMEST combination. On the tour he visited over a hundred libraries which made a lasting impression on his mind and changed his outlook toward libraries and from then on he was like a man on a mission. He returned back to India with renewed interest and reorganised the university library. He took upon himself to educate people about benefits of reading and slowly evolved the library as hub of activity. He provided many services to attract users to library by adopting a holistic approach.
SRR donned many hats – that of a mathematics teacher, librarian, library science faculty, author, editor and above all a crusader who worked tirelessly for development of libraries in India as he believed it to be essential in development of the nation. Due to his efforts the library movement in South India is said to have strong roots reflecting on spread of public library network. SRR drafted a comprehensive visionary 30 year plan for the development of library system for India in 1946. Because of SSR’s interest and dedication Madras became the first state in India to enact the Madras Public Library Act in 1957.
SRR started out working as a librarian in Madras University Library between years 1924-44. In 1945 he sought voluntary retirement. But retirement was not for SRR, he was invited by the then Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) Sir S. Radhakrishnan to develop a library system; where he worked as a Librarian and Professor of Library Science from 1945-47. SRR received yet another invite from Vice-Chancellor of University of Delhi for teaching there from 1947-55.
He was honoured with D. Litt. (Honoris causa), Delhi University in 1948 and D. Litt. (Honoris causa) from University of Pittsburgh, USA in 1964.
SRR served in various capacities and contributed to corpus of knowledge on the National and international level.
SRR had extensive experience in developing libraries, hence was invited as an expert/consultant by many universities to suggest library development plan like University of Delhi in 1942, Nagpur University and University of Allahabad in 1946, University of Bombay in 1948, University of Mysore in 1956 and Bangalore University in 1966.
SRR worked tirelessly to promote and professionalise the library education in India. He felt the need for formal education in LIS and initiated setting up of various schools. In 1929 started the School of Librarianship of the Madras Library Association and the School of Library Science at the University of Madras in 1931. Diploma Course in Library Science in Banaras in 1945, Bachelor in Library Science in Delhi 1947 and Masters in Library Science in Delhi 1950
SRR was on various committees and played a key role in its founding and development. He founded Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre (INSDOC) in Delhi in 1950 and Documentation Research and Training Centre (DRTC), Bangalore under the auspices of the Indian Statistical Institute in 1962. He relocated to Bangalore in 1957.
SRR served as visiting/honorary lecturer/professor at various national and international universities. He contributed as visiting professor in 1948 at UNESCO International School for Public Librarianship, Manchester; in 1956 for library school(s) in United Kingdom; 1957-59 in Vikram University, Ujjain; 1958 for library school(s) in United States of America, Canada and Japan; and 1963 for library schools(s) University of Pittsburgh. He worked in DRTC as Honorary Professor till 1972.
SRR undertook many library tours in India and abroad including United Kingdom in 1925; Kerala and South Kanara in 1945; Western Europe, United Kingdom, and United States of America in 1948; Western Europe and United States of America in 1950; Ceylon 1952; United Yugoslavia and West Germany in 1956; East Germany Kingdom in 1955; United States of America, Canada, and Japan in 1957; United States of America, Poland, and Russia in 1959; France, East Germany, and West Germany in 1961; as well as Western Europe and United States of America.
Not only nationally but he made an impact internationally too with his contributions. His reputation extended beyond the borders of his country. Eugene Garfield, founder of the Institute for Scientific Information, wrote that SRR is “without question, one of the luminaries of library science” and has had a “revolutionary impact on international classification theory.” He made a lot of international connections like Donker-Duyvis, who was the then Secretary-General of International Federation for Documentation (FID).
SRR became Rapporteur-general, FID/CA (Committee on General Theory of Classification of the International Federation for Documentation) from 1951-61 and Honorary Chairman, FID/CR (Committee on Classification Research of the International Federation for Documentation) in year 1963 and honorary president of the Second International Conference on Classification Research, held in Elsinore, Denmark in 1964. K. G. B. Bakewell called him “one of the immortals of library science.”
He was tireless in his efforts and was often accused of being a workaholic or ‘Karmayogi’. It is said that he consistently worked 13-hour days, seven days a week, without taking a vacation for the entire time he worked in Madras University. Another most shared fact that reflects his dedication was that he returned to work the afternoon he got married after the ceremony. His was a lifetime of selfless commitment towards betterment of the discipline he grew fond of. Like a yogi he concentrated his whole body, spirit and mind in discipline of library and information sciences and worked towards its development.
He was a prolific writer with over 1200 research papers, 53 books and was editor for 5 periodical publications; associate editor of 1; and editorial board of 2 journals and editor of 2 books in his lifetime.
The most famous books listing include
- Five Laws of Library Science (1931)
- Colon Classification (1933)
- Classified Catalogue Code (1934)
- Library Administration (1935)
- Prolegomena to Library Classification (1937)
- Theory of the Library Catalogue (1938)
- Elements of Library Classification (1945)
- Classification and International Documentation (1948)
- Classification and Communication (1951)
He was the editor of two books ‘Documentation and its facets’ in 1963 and ‘Social science research and libraries’ in 1960.
He was an Editor of following journals including ‘Abigila’, Indian Library Association 1949-53; ‘Annals of Library Science’ from 1954-63; and ‘Library Science with a Slant to Documentation’ 1964-72. Associate Editor of ‘Libri’ in year 1951. He was on editorial board of ‘Modern Librarian’ 1937-47 and ‘Indian Librarian’ 1947. Conducted Memoirs, Madras Library Association 1939-1944 and American Documentation 1959
One of the most notable contributions to the field are five laws of library science proposed in 1931.
- Books are for use.
- Every reader his / her book.
- Every book its reader.
- Save the time of the reader.
- The library is a growing organism.
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