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by Dushyanthi Daniel

Nearly twenty two years have passed since the dangerous bomb which shook the world of the learned exploded, when they heard that the Jaffna Public Library was in flames.

The priceless collection of about 97,000 volumes of publications and more than 10,000 rarest collections of the world were just reduced to ashes within a few hours. The impact was so grievous that it is said that one of its founder members, Father T. M. F. Long, former Rector of St. Patrick's College, Jaffna, died of a heart attack on hearing this shocking news.

The re-opening of the Jaffna Public Library today is good news for the public, academics, library professionals and well-wishers of the Jaffna Public Library. Lots of spade work was done by so many individuals, national and international bodies, the shattered building was renovated and thousands of publications were acquired, but it cannot be compared and will probably not replace the original knowledge mine, that was found in the earlier Jaffna Public Library.

It was designed by a well-known library architect of India, Narasimha Rao, and he did the design in the Dravidian style and the library was organised with the help of experts in librarianship like Professor S. R. Ranganathan, Professor of Librarianship and Information Studies of the University of New Delhi. The Jaffna Public Library was considered one of the best libraries in South East Asia. It has a very old history and was supported and nurtured by intellectuals.

The National Library and Documentation Services Board (NLDSB) is very proud to place on record its contribution to the re-opening of the Jaffna Public Library. Formulating standards and by-laws for the public libraries in the country, advising on library planning, library buildings, organising library collections, library management, recommending library cadre and grading libraries are some of the activities carried out by the Library Development Division of the NLDSB.

As such, the NLDSB was involved in the reconstruction of the Jaffna Public Library from the start. Just after the Jaffna Public Library was set of flames, the NLDSB sent one of its senior officers, S. M. Kamaldeen to the scene and he prepared a detailed report on the Jaffna Public Library in 1981. Subsequently, the then University of Peradeniya Librarian H. A. I. Goonetilleke too inspected and submitted another report on the Jaffna Public Library.

Later, the Director General of the NLDSB, M. S. Upali Amarasiri, was a member of the Jaffna Public Library Re-construction Working Committees set up by the Ministry of National Integration and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The NLDSB and experts in the library field contributed their professional experience to these committees.

They were instrumental in contacting some international institutions that possessed materials relevant to Tamil culture and civilisation, such as the Boston Museum Library, USA, Library of Congress, USA, The British Library and the Madras University Library. Later on, through the efforts of the committee and the USIS, microfiche copies of old Jaffna newspapers were acquired by the Jaffna Public Library.

The organising committee, with the advice of the NLDSB, originally planned to construct two new wings to encompass the old building which was to be renovated. However, it was decided later to renovate only the existing old building and think of the new wings at a later stage.

The NLDSB also set up a special unit at the NLDSB premises and with the assistance of two experts in the library field, namely S. M. Kamaldeen and S. Murugavel, former librarian, University of Jaffna, selected books for the Jaffna Public Library.

A long list of library material was prepared and was sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was co-ordinating the activities of the reconstruction work. Donations such as the Peter Keuneman collection, Mervin Casiechetty collection were received by the NLDSB and were sent to the Jaffna Public Library at the appropriate time. The NLDSB also co-ordinated and assisted in the donation of books by Book Aid International, UK to the Jaffna Public Library. The NLDSB donated some of its own publications too to the Jaffna Public Library.

The NLDSB has approved a special cadre for the Jaffna Public Library and submitted its proposals to the North East Provincial Council. This was done taking into consideration the proposed expanded services by the Jaffna Public Library.

A training programme for the library personnel of the Jaffna Public Library and other branch libraries in the Northern Province too was conducted by the NLDSB recently.

The NLDSB has already started developing and modernising library services at provincial level. A number of Provincial Councils have already enacted necessary library legislation which will be the foundation of library development in these provinces. As the next step, the NLDSB is planning to introduce the new library legislation at the North East Provincial Council.

With the introduction of this legislation, new library infrastructure e.g. Provincial Library Board, Provincial Central Library, District Central Libraries, network of libraries and library training centres will be set up. Special attention will be paid to the modernisation of library services using ICT. Information centres will be set up at village level to help youths, students and small-scale entrepreneurs special attention will be paid to school library development.

We hope that the Jaffna Public Library in time to come, will be the centre of library activities in the North-East Province. It will develop its links with the National Library and a number of other major library networks in the country. Generally libraries receive step-motherly treatment from their respective authorities.

We hope the new Jaffna Public Library will receive enthusiastic support from the Jaffna Municipal Council, general public and other relevant organisations.

The NLDSB is very proud at this juncture, of its contribution towards a very worthy cause of re-building the Jaffna Public Library. Re-opening of the Jaffna Public Library is not the end of reconstructing and re-organising the Jaffna Public Library.

The library should reach international standards in its services and activities. New services should be implemented soon. The NLDSB while wishing a prosperous and fruitful future for the Jaffna Public Library, extends its fullest support for its development activities.

The writer is the Head, Library Development Division, National Library and Documentation Services Board„

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