AbstractThis paper summarizes the 1995 situation, which is characterized by low budgets, poor physical plants, low status for librarians, and a lack of new technology. There are 65 public libraries to serve 120 million persons; only a few large schools have books for the use of pupils. The most successful libraries are special libraries—many of them supported from external sources. Dhaka University (founded 1921) has the country’s largest library, with 550,000 volumes. There are 12 other academic libraries, the largest at Rajshahi University and Chittagong University. The National Library has 200,000 volumes. Library education is centered at Dhaka University, which has had a department since 1959 and has offered a master’s degree since 1962. There is also a diploma course at Rajshahi University. An active library association, established 1956, now has a membership of 1,350. It sponsors training, holds conferences, and publishes a journal. Human resources show promise for the future, as the library community demonstrates a strong sense of professionalism and national purpose.
With one of the least developed library infrastructures in the world, Bangladesh faces significant challenges coordinating its library resources and building its collections. Libraries, already under–funded in the East Pakistan days, suffered great losses in 1971 during the Bangladesh war of independence. It took time for the young country, faced with a lack of financial resources, overcrowding, and natural disasters, to begin building its library collections.
With an average yearly per capita income of only $200, resources in Bangladesh are limited. As a result, libraries and access to information are not given a high national priority. This article provides an overview of the library infrastructure of Bangladesh, the state of special, academic, and public collections, and an overview of librarianship and library education.
As is the case in many developing countries, library resources in Bangladesh are inequitably distributed. Only five percent of the people in Bangladesh live in the capital city of Dhaka, but more than 75 percent of the library resources are located there. Six of the 13 academic libraries in the country, including the largest one, Dhaka University Library, are located in the Dhaka area, as well as the National Library and nearly all of the special libraries. Because most of the libraries in Bangladesh have non–circulating collections, which limits their use to nearby residents, access to libraries and information is available only to a small portion of the country’s population.
A key factor in the development of libraries in Bangladesh is the infusion of support from donors in the developed countries. Most Western nations have active aid programs operating in Bangladesh and a few of those resources are directed to libraries. This has created a two–tier structure for libraries in Bangladesh: specialized libraries that have benefitted from the largesse of donor agencies and countries, and general libraries financed by the treasury. A visitor to Dhaka, therefore, would find a series of well–funded libraries sprinkled among some of the most resource–starved libraries in the world.
By far, the most sophisticated libraries in the country are those specialized collections financed from external sources. Special libraries generally have bigger budgets, larger collections, more access to technology, and a higher caliber of staff (this last point is due to the fact that specialized libraries pay personnel far more than the government libraries). It is also in these special libraries that library automation, online and off–line databases, and CD–ROMs an be found. Most specialized libraries have benefitted from the advice of foreign consultants during their formative years.
Special libraries in Bangladesh range from collections housed in embassy cultural centers to libraries supporting well–funded development projects. For example, the International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Bangladesh ICDDRB), the premier institute of its type in the world, has a library to match ts high level of international support. The multinational staff of physicians and researchers must have access to the latest journals and online services, Therefore, librarians at ICDDRB enjoy materials and working conditions that most of their colleagues elsewhere can only dream of.
Similar libraries exist at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council, the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, the American Cultural Center, and the British Council. Most non–governmental organizations have robust, but highly specialized, collections. Clearly, the best positions within the country are considered to be the specialized libraries that are financed externally.
Special libraries have also served as the impetus for resource–sharing lliances in Bangladesh. For example, the Information Network on Rural Development (INRD), made up of special libraries in government departments, international organizations, and local non–government organizations, was created to maximize the use of information through resource sharing. Still in its infancy, INRD is one of the few examples of collective Bangladeshi efforts to share resources and collections.
Most of the centralized library structure dates back to the country’s history as East Pakistan, from 1947 to 1971. In the late 1960s, the government of East Pakistan established a central library in Dhaka to deposit books under the 1964 Copyright Ordinance. After Bangladesh became an independent nation in 1971, the central library of Dhaka was developed as the national library of the new country. The Directorate of Archives and Libraries, under the Bangladesh Ministry of Cultural Affairs, consists of the National Library of Bangladesh and the National Archives of Bangladesh.
Today, the National Library of Bangladesh employs 53 staff members and has a collection of 200,000 books, 3,000 bound journals, and 1,000 newspapers in Bangla (the state language of Bangladesh), Urdu, and English. The National Library receives copies of all books published in Bangladesh, as mandated by the Copyright Ordinance of 1974. (In 1990,1,643 books were published in the country.) The National Library coordinates national bibliographic activities, serves as a clearinghouse for the exchange of books and periodicals, and acts as a depository library under the World Bank’s depository library program. The National Library continues to publish the Bangladesh National Bibliography in both English and Bangla; however, publication of the bibliography has been delayed recently due to budgetary constraints (e.g., the 1985 bibliography was not published until 1990).
Since the liberation struggle in 1971, the new nation of Bangladesh has focused on chronicling its early history. In 1973, the government established the National Archives and, in 1983, issued the National Archives Ordinance for the collection, preservation, maintenance, and administration of the non–current and permanently valuable records and archives of the government. Included among the 600,000 documents and records in the National Archives are the Government of Bengal records, East Pakistan records, Dhaka Divisional Commissioners’ office records, maps, gazettes, press clippings, newspapers, and microfilm. An advisory council advises the government on matters relating to the deposition of materials from government agencies. Within the archives are hundreds of fascinating, terrifying personal accounts of the liberation struggles that have yet to be accessed by scholars.
Since 1985, the National Library and the National Archives have been housed in a seven–story permanent building that provides 60,000 square feet of working space. It is located in the government complex which includes the National Parliament Building. That the National Library and the National Archives are propitiously located near the nerve center of the government is perhaps a sign that information resources will have a higher profile in the future.
Bangladesh has 13 academic libraries, six of them in the Dhaka area. There is a tremendous fall–off in quality between the specialized and academic libraries. Even the best academic libraries seem to exist mainly to house textbooks for classes, rather than act as repositories for research. University Grants Commission staff members admit that the academic libraries in Bangladesh are in desperate shape, but see no infusion of resources available to change the status quo.
The premier academic library in Bangladesh is the Dhaka University Library. Founded in 1921, Dhaka University is the oldest university in the country, and its library collection of 550,000 volumes makes it the largest academic library in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Agricultural University Library, located 60 miles from Dhaka in Mymensingh, has 158,679 volumes, and the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology Library, just a few blocks from Dhaka University, maintains a collection of 118,000 volumes. Libraries at Rajshahi University (261,444 volumes), Chittagong University (153,926 volumes), Jahangirnagar University (70,000 volumes), and the Islamic University at Kushtia (26,384 volumes), serve students outside Dhaka.
A survey of the government–sponsored academic libraries in Bangladesh in 1994 isolated some of the major problems facing academic libraries:
Since 1992, the government–sponsored universities have been joined by a half dozen private universities, most located in Dhaka. Among them are the North–South University, the Independent University of Bangladesh, the International University of Business, Agriculture, and Technology (IUBAT), all located in Dhaka, and the Science and Technology University in Chittagong. The new private universities serve as an alternative to the government universities, which have been plagued by closures, huge backlogs of students, and, in some cases, violence. While tuition at the private universities is expensive by Bangladeshi standards, it is far cheaper than sending students to the U.K. or the U.S. for study, a popular alternative over the past 10 years. The private universities claim to offer a Western–quality education at a fraction of the cost.
Most of the private universities have strong ties to American institutions or faculty, and advertise this affiliation. One key selling point is the fact that they offer library and reference materials not available in the government universities. While budgets for the private universities will be modest until they mature, it does not take huge resources to compete with even the best academic libraries in the country, especially when the private universities specialize in just a few areas like business, engineering, and computer science.
To university students not accustomed to having quality information resources at their fingertips, access to a library is prized. The American Cultural Center Library, though located in a highly congested and remote area for university students, for example, is usually filled to capacity because its modest collection in the humanities and social sciences is superior to the alternative in academic libraries.
The private universities are also leading the push for Internet connections in Bangladesh. At least one of the universities is already offering access through a modem to Bangkok, although there are no hard–wired facilities as yet. The heads of the private universities understand that they will never be able to build full–scale collections, and will have to depend on remote access for filling the gaps in their permanent collections.
The government created the Department of Public Libraries in 1983 to oversee the public library system in Bangladesh. This agency is housed in the Central Public Library in Dhaka and administers the country’s 65 government–sponsored divisional and district public libraries. Chief among these is the Central Public Library in Dhaka, which opened in 1958, has a collection of 112,376 books, and includes a children’s library and cultural exhibits.
There are three divisional public libraries in Bangladesh. The public library in Chittagong, the country’s chief port and its second–largest city with 2,100,000 people, was opened in its expanded form in 1989 and has 43,671 books. Khulna, with a population of 877,000, established its library in 1965; its collection now totals 69,106. Rajshahi, located on the northwest border near India, opened its public library in 1983 and today has 32,690 books.
The other 61 district libraries are located throughout the country in small towns. The total number of books at these 65 public libraries amounts to only 540,000, and the libraries together employ 376 staff members. Because the majority of the patrons of the country’s public libraries are students, collection emphasis is on textbooks. Most of the materials do not circulate. These factors leave patrons outside the cities with hardly any library resources; anyone needing to do extensive research must visit Dhaka.
While academic and public libraries have scant resources in Bangladesh, the situation for school libraries is even worse. The 12,345,000 primary school students and 3,480,000 secondary students must endure the consequences of this lack of funds. (As of 1993, there were 7,630 high schools, 2,750 junior high schools, and 15,986 elementary schools.) Schools in the larger cities have books, but those in the small villages are lucky to have even a few volumes. Fewer still have libraries. When there are books, most are outdated. The Commission on National Education has emphasized the importance of libraries in education, but the government has given little funding for school libraries.
There are only two professional library degree programs in Bangladesh to produce librarians for a nation of 120 million. The oldest and most respected is located at Dhaka University. The Department of Library and Information Science at Dhaka University was founded in 1959 with a one–year postgraduate diploma course in library science. The master’s degree course was introduced in 1962. In 1976, the one–year master of arts degree became a two–year program; a two–year master’s of philosophy degree program was initiated the same year. The school introduced a doctoral degree program in library science in 1979. In 1988, a three–year honors course in library and information science was initiated. The master’s curriculum offered by the Department of Library and Information Science includes courses in systems analysis and information science, research methodology and statistical methods, library networking systems and resource sharing, library collection building, bibliography and reference, organization of materials, archives and preservation of library materials, and information retrieval. Approximately 70 students graduate from the master’s program each year.
In 1992, Rajshahi University in the northwest region of Bangladesh near the Indian border initiated the only other library science program in the country. The school introduced a one–year postgraduate diploma course in library and information science, and a year later began a three–year honors program in the subject.
Both university programs lack access to materials and opportunities for enriched practical experience. Library students are limited in practicum work to the academic libraries, with all of their shortcomings, that are attached to the universities. Therefore, librarians are not able to apply much of the material they learn in course work. In fact, there is the danger of having a curriculum geared to the specialized libraries, which cannot be applied to work in academic, public, or school libraries.
The Library Association of Bangladesh (LAB) was established in 1956 and today has a membership of 1,350. Its goals are to promote library service to the people of Bangladesh, to provide and promote facilities for training of librarianship and research in library science, to cooperate with libraries and library organizations with similar goals, and to improve the status and service conditions of library personnel. The Association holds an annual meeting and is governed by an executive council that meets monthly.
The LAB sponsors the Library Training Institute in Dhaka, which offers library and information science courses and training programs, and supports continuing education opportunities for librarians through seminars and symposia. The Institute sponsors a six–month certificate course in library science, a 12–month postgraduate diploma course in library and information science, a basic librarianship course for armed forces personnel, and other special courses. These courses are taught at the Institute’s facility in Dhaka, housed in the Dhaka Central Public Library. The association also advises the Library Training Institutes in Chittagong, Khulna, and Rajshahi. The Association’s journal, The Eastern Librarian, was recently revived and is now published twice yearly. The association has also sponsored national symposia on preparing libraries and librarians in Bangladesh for the 21st century.
Bangladesh has the advantage of a fairly extensive library infrastructure and a cadre of well–educated librarians. What it lacks is the steady infusion of resources to fund that infrastructure at a functional level. This is particularly true for public and school libraries, which are barely operative by western standards. The scarcity of resources has led to a concentration of materials in a few centralized facilities, mostly located in Dhaka. While this provides fairly adequate resources to those living in the capital, one must seek out the special libraries funded by outside donors to access the truly robust collections. The most promising use of technology will certainly come from these specialized libraries, and from the academic libraries in the new private universities.
Taking into account the resource constraints endured by the government institutions, the most urgent need is for a rudimentary interlibrary loan program that would allow materials to circulate more widely. At this time, there is no registry of materials, or union list, available to librarians for consultation. It is nearly impossible to find materials without personally going from library to library.
A formidable constraint to starting an interlibrary loan program is the lack of a communal approach to information resources. Each library is a fiefdom unto itself, with no tradition of sharing. Until there is an incentive for information sharing, the limited resources of this developing library structure will remain isolated and underutilized.
While physical resources are scarce, human resources show promise for the future. There is a cadre of well–trained librarians who have been active in advancing in–service training for librarians. The Library Association of Bangladesh national seminar in 1993 on “Preparing the Libraries and Librarians of Bangladesh for the 21st Century” showed a commitment to building a strong sense of professionalism and national purpose among the country’s librarians.
The author wrote the entry for Bangladesh in the AT, A World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Services, Second edition (1986). That entry was not revised in the third edition of the Encyclopedia (1993) except for certain tabular data. With the present article, Ms. Foote describes the current situation in the country.
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Jody Bales Foote is Assistant Education/Psychology Librarian at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. She was a Fulbright Professor at the Library Training Institute of Bangladesh, Dhaka, in Fall 1992; she had previously lectured in Bangladesh, in 1985. Her article on libraries in Bangladesh appeared in the ALA’s World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Services.
© 1995 Jody Bales Foote.
Citation
Foote, Jody Bales, “Libraries and Librarianship in Bangladesh,” Third World Libraries, Volume 5, Number 2 (Spring 1995).