Librarians to the fore
 

BY DILMANI Warnasuriya

THE devastative effect of the recent tsunami to human life and livelihood has been given high priority in all sectors of the media in recent times, and rightly so.

Yet, with most of the attention being paid to the supplying the basic needs of food, shelter, water and clothing, little thought has been spared to the losses caused to auxiliary concerns such as libraries.

The library community in Sri Lanka, then must certainly be lauded for being among the first group of professionals to focus attention on the damage caused in areas coming under their professional ambit. Mercifully, no librarians lost their lives, but libraries and community centres suffered severe damage.

These included school, public and technical libraries, and also libraries attached to religious institutions.

Within a week an appeal had gone out to the international community by the National Library, requesting assistance towards the rehabilitation and development of the affected libraries in the country.

As a result of the appeal, an instant response was received from UNESCO, through the visit of their representative, Dr. Susan Ornager, UNESCO Coordinator, Information Communication Division for Asia.

Dr. Ornager who toured the tsunami affected areas in Lanka, was able to assess the possible ways in which such assistance could be provided through foreign benefactors.

She expressed great satisfaction at the prompt action taken by the library community in Sri Lanka, and after much discussion suggested the setting up a Disaster Management Committee to coordinate the work involved in rehabilitation activities relating to libraries.

A Library Disaster Management Committee, officially named the Sri Lanka Disaster Management Committee for Library and Information Services and Archives (SLDMC for LISA) was thus set up as early as the 7th January, with the centre being located at the National Library & Documentation Centre.

To give it that degree of professionalism, a draft constitution, objectives and action plan was laid down, with the focus on rehabilitating libraries, archives and information centres destroyed or damaged by the tsunami.

Both immediate and long-term objectives of this committee was also set down, the immediate objective being to assess the damage to libraries by carrying out a survery and take remedial steps to revive the library services in the affected areas.

The measures included restoration of damaged libraries though renovation, collection, development through donations, and training of personnel.

Simultaneously, the Committee drew up a project proposal to be sent to UNESCO. The project proposal embodied a long-term goal for the setting up modern libraries in keeping with the information society or the e-lanka programme as envisioned by the recently set up Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA).

Audio visual equipment including computers, trendy furniture and fittings were all part of the 'new look' library set out in the proposal. The concept of Mobile libraries was also expanded upon, so that those in relief centre, or otherwise displaced from their homes could have access to some reading material as a temporary measure.

Hiring of buildings to house temporary libraries was given some thought as an immediate measure which could be taken in some localities where building construction could take time. Conservation equipment was another aspect embodied in the proposal, laying the foundation for future disaster management strategies.

A proposal was subsequently submitted to the government embodying these plans. Notwithstanding this, the Committee was steadfast in its affirmation that irrespective of the granting of funds, the committee would be ready to provide all necessary professional input into rehabilitation work relating to libraries.

To focus on the different aspects of rehabilitation relating to widely disparate libraries, ten task forces were set up within the committee, each headed by a senior professional.

Some of these task forces concentrated only on a particular type of library, such as school or public, while others looked at ICT requirements, conservation of materials, buildings and furniture and training aspects.

A special task force was set up to explore the concept of 'Twinning' or adoption. These task forces having their terms of reference laid down, have commenced their own plan of action.

What next? What has been achieved by this enthusiastic band of professionals in their quest of serving their community? Certainly, the groundwork has been done and they have made their presence felt among all echelons of the bureaucracy and the affected.

As a starting point, a creditable assessment of damages caused to libraries in the tsunami affected areas have been made and the National Library has set up a database listing the extent of damage, and the assistance required, with a map showing the location of each library affected. This was drawn up through newspaper advertisements, questionnaires, and also personal visits to the libraries affected.

As far as rebuilding is concerned, the library community is powerless as, apart from the lack of funding, the bureaucracy involved, particularly in the case of local government bodies and other government agencies, is not conductive to any planned activity.

Moreover, with regard to school libraries, agreements have already been signed for the rebuilding of all the schools damaged by the tsunami. What remains then to be done here is to provide professional advice on the plan and layout of the libraries to ensure that the libraries attached to these schools are built according to accepted international standards and requirements.

This is the time to reap some benefit from the disaster, to make use of generous benefactors and leapfrog towards a major technological culture it would otherwise not have reached for many decades of time.

The Task force for Library Buildings and Furniture have already initiated action in consultation with the Institute of Architects to prepare a prototype for each type and size of library, taking into account cultural and social requirements of the region.

Guidelines issued by the International Federation of Library Associations and Unesco, will be taken into account when doing this. The database set up will be the main instrument used in order to determine the specific requirements of each damaged library.

With regard to re-stocking of libraries, donor agencies have responded magnificently to the appeal, and have pledged tremendous support for the supply of books and magazines.

However, caution must be exercised in accepting en masse such donations.

Many of the books on offer would have no readers, and would be in left in cold storage at the mercy of insects and rodents.

An approximate listing of the books required to replenish the damaged stock is urgently needed so that a screening of the donations could be made before acceptance, and this is exactly what has been done by the library community.

What has emerged is that the bulk of the stock needed are Sinhala and Tamil books.

The cooperation of publishers both in Sri Lanka and India could be of immense benefit in procuring these books, once the necessary funding is received. A list of stock and other materials needed by the affected libraries is already available at the National Library.

Twinning of libraries is another area where immediate action has been initiated.

The concept of adoption be it children, places or organizations has taken now root among many philanthropists and donors. It envisages a continuing dialogue and rapport between the donor and the acceptor. In this scenario, what has been advocated is a triangular model with one adoptee and two 'adoptors'.

The adoptee would be the affected library, and one local and one foreign agency would take the role of the adopting entities.

It is envisaged that the foreign donor will supply the necessary stock and funding while the local agencies will be more or less a monitoring and overseeing agency. Gratifyingly, offers of twinning have already been received from foreign organizations and these are being processed. Some tangible benefit is therefore imminent.

This is not all. The Sri Lanka Library Association the non governmental professional body of librarians have also responded to the clarion call, and have now embarked upon a rather ambitious plan of setting up four model libraries in both the East and the South in different sectors.

They have even been successful in obtaining funding for this project through and NGO, and the project is now in progress. When completed these libraries could act as a model for emulation.

What is needed then in this time of national disaster, is thus a commitment by all sectors of professionals to mobilize all efforts to work towards a common plan which will benefit the nation in some small measure, in some small area.

As is commonly said, every drop of water helps to make the ocean and although the ocean has taken a heavy toll from us all, we need to rebuild our damaged country into a stronger and better nation.

(The writer is Chairperson/Publicity Task Force SL DMC for LISA)