The Pioneers: Anis Khurshid (1924–2008) — Zahiruddin Khurshid
Born in Kamptee, India, on 2 September 1924, Anis Khurshid received his high school degree in 1943 and joined the Indian government service the following year. His love for books goes back to 1941 when he started visiting a public library in the neighborhood and later joined its management team as secretary. He also was put in charge of his school library in the final year of high school. Following the partition of India, he migrated to Pakistan on 11 October 1947. Khurshid’s library career spans over half a century in which he worked tirelessly to advance his education from a certificate in librarianship to a doctoral degree, and his professional career from classifier to professor. His success story is full of inspiration for his students and colleagues to follow and narrating it here is the subject of this paper. Although there are many facets of Anis Khurshid, the author would like to describe only those that qualify him for inclusion in “The Pioneers” series of World Libraries.
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| Figure 1: Anis Khurshid. |
Library education
Khurshid received his first Certificate in Librarianship from the Karachi Library Association in 1952 and entered into the library profession by joining the Karachi University (KU) Library (now Dr. Mahmud Husain Library) as classifier in 1954. He continued his library studies and passed the Diploma Course in Library Science in 1957 and secured first position. Khurshid’s outstanding performance as librarian at the KU Library earned him a joint Fulbright–Asia Foundation Scholarship for graduate study in library science at Rutgers University in 1959. At Rutgers, he got the opportunity to meet and work with some renowned personalities, including Ralph Shaw, Mary V. Gaver, Lowell Martin, and Margaret E. Monroe.
Upon return from America with a Masters degree in Library Science (MLS), Khurshid joined the Department of Library Science at KU as Lecturer in 1962 and continued his teaching career until he retired as Professor in 1986. During his studies in America, he was impressed by the standard of library education there and was motivated to start the first ever MLS program in Pakistan in 1962. He hired some young and bright librarians as lecturers and sent them on scholarships to get graduate degrees in Library and Information Science (LIS) from American Library Association–accredited library schools in the United States. Due to the shortage of teachers caused by the departure of new recruits for higher studies, he took upon himself the teaching load of five courses per week. He developed the MLS curriculum based on the American model and made the preparation of a thesis as one of the requirements of the Master’s program. The objective was to develop research skills in students. Some of the Master’s theses of good quality were published during his tenure as Chairman of the LIS Department. The level of this program was so high that several students got library jobs even before they were graduated. Many went on lucrative jobs to North America, Middle East, and North Africa causing brain drain in Pakistan. Khurshid’s contribution to library education in Pakistan has been summed up by Kaula in these words: “He is the best known library educator of Pakistan whose pioneering services have made librarianship a graduate profession in Pakistan.” [1]
His quest for knowledge took him to the University of Pittsburgh in 1966 where he completed his Advance Certificate in LIS in 1967 and Ph.D in 1969 under the guidance and supervision of another group of able teachers, including Harold Lancour, Roy Stokes, J.C. Harrison, William. V. Jackson, Allen Kent, Andrew Osborn, and Nasser Sharify. His Ph.D dissertation entitled “Standards for Library Education in Burma, Ceylon, India and Pakistan” was a comprehensive study spanning over 740 pages, in which Khurshid not only reviewed the state of library education in South Asia, but also compared the pace of library development with those of other fields in each country.
Upon return to Pakistan after completing his Ph.D in 1969, he was promoted to Associate Professor in 1970 and to Professor in 1979. He also served as Chairman of the LIS Department for two terms in 1979–82 and 1984–86. During his first term, he organized the Silver Jubilee celebrations of the department and issued a commemorative volume [2] on this occasion, which included contributions from Jesse H. Shera, Harold Goldstein, P. Havard–Williams, Mohammed M. Aman, Abdul Moid and others. After his retirement in 1986, he continued teaching as a cooperative teacher for about two years.
Khurshid’s departure from the LIS department created a vacuum which has not been filled yet. As a result, the administration of the department, the quality of academic programs, the standard of teaching, and everything else is going down. The new education policy, which requires the chairmanship of the department to rotate among senior teachers every two years, has made the situation even worse. The policy opened the door for those teachers who lacked education and training from North America or Europe to take control of the department. They are promoted to the rank of professor if they acquire a doctorate degree, not necessarily from an accredited school. The Ph.D program, which was already in place for many years but had not yet awarded a degree, got several candidates registered. The program requires a candidate to prepare a dissertation without doing any course work. The first few candidates prepared their dissertations in Urdu, got their Ph.D degrees, and were promoted to the rank of professor. This would not have been possible if Khurshid was managing the department. He always believed in quality research and encouraged his students to write and publish research papers in reputed international journals. Many of his students, including the author, regularly contribute articles to professional journals.
Library Associations
Khurshid always felt the need for a strong national library association and its active role in the country’s library development. He became involved in the activities of the Pakistan Library Association (PLA) in 1957 and assumed the post of Assistant Secretary in 1960–61. He was elected as Secretary in 1961–62 and 1970–73. He organized three successful PLA conferences in Lahore (1961), Karachi (1971), and Saidu Sharif (1973) and also published their proceedings. Under his tenure as secretary of the PLA, he also prepared some important policy documents, such as the Library Bill of Rights, Guidelines for Affiliation of Library Associations, and Standards for Library Courses Offered by Library Associations in Pakistan. He was also the founding chairman of the Karachi University Library Science Alumni Association (KULSAA) in 1957–58. KULSAA launched a quarterly journal, Pakistan Library Review, in 1958 of which he was the first editor. His carefully planned editorial and production work earned a good name for this journal, so much so that such distinguished internationalists as Ralph R. Shaw, S.R. Ranganathan, Jesse H. Shera, and Mary V. Gaver were among its contributors.
At the international level, Khurshid served as a resource member for Pakistan on the ALA’s Equivalence Committee on Library Education in 1970. He was also the Chairman of the IFLA’s Sub–Group on South Asia in 1976–78, and a member of the International Association of Orientalist Librarians from 1978 to 1985.
International librarianship
Only a handful of Pakistani librarians have left any impact on international librarianship and Anis Khurshid stands out the tallest among them. According to Asheim, “There are many facets of Anis Khurshid that have earned him world–wide admiration and respect.” [3] He acknowledges the part Khurshid played in breaking down the cultural barriers that so frequently intervene among and between countries. His publications have appeared in leading professional journals and documents, most of which are read beyond the country in which they are published, and thus reach an international audience.
Jackson acknowledges the vital contribution of Khurshid to the International Library Information Center (ILIC) at the University of Pittsburgh where he served as librarian from 1966 to 1969. The Center was created to serve two functions: (1) to act as a clearinghouse of data on library development, documentation, and book production and distribution with regard to both United States and overseas resources, and (2) to serve as a training and research center in the field of international librarianship.
Khurshid worked hard to build and organize the library collection. He developed a practical classification scheme that allowed grouping of materials under countries and geographical regions, and under each country or region by 16 broad subjects, such as library legislation, publishing and communication, university libraries, public libraries, and library education. His years at ILIC gave him a heightened and expanded sense of international librarianship, its problems, methods, and potential [4]. He also established the Islamic Library Information Centre (ISLIC) in the LIS Department at KU with a view to collect information on libraries, book trade, and education, and to promote research on libraries and librarianship in the Muslim world. He was the founding director of the Centre and brought out two important publications [5] during his tenure.
Through his contributions in international librarianship, he developed personal friendships with many eminent librarians in every part of the world. This is evident from the contributions to three festschrift published in his honor in Pakistan. They include Lester Asheim, Allen Kent, David Kaser, Nasser Sharify, William V. Jackson, Carroll C. Moreland, John Feather, Mohammed M. Aman, Harry C. Campbell, D.J. Foskett, K.C. Harrison, P. Havard–Williams, Dorothy S. Obi, Savina Roxas, Inese Smith, Hedwig Anuar, P.N. Kaula, Poori Soltani, Katni Kamsono Kambat, Jasim M. Jirjees, Nonglak Minaikit, and Nirmala R. Amarasuriya. He also had professional contacts with S.R. Ranganathan, Martha Boaz and other distinguished librarians.
Public libraries
During his stay in the United States, Khurshid witnessed the development of public libraries in North America through generous support from philanthropists and public endowments, and through state support by enactment of public library legislation and with it levying of taxes. Soon after returning from the United States in 1959, he presented a plan for establishing a pilot public library in Pakistan with support from UNESCO [6]. In presenting this plan, he was influenced by the success of Delhi Public Library in India, which was created by the Government of India with technical and financial support from UNESCO. He also developed a public library system plan at the national level and another plan for a network of libraries for Karachi at the city level. Khurshid headed a Technical Working Group (TWG), appointed by the federal government of Pakistan in 1982 to conduct a survey of the existing public library facilities in Pakistan and to identify problems hampering their development. A working document based on a countrywide survey of public libraries was prepared by the Group, which proposed a comprehensive plan for a consortium of free public libraries in Pakistan duly supported by library legislation.
Bibliographical control
During his early career, Khurshid developed a liking for cataloging and indexing. He prepared two indexes of library literature published in or about Pakistan following the format of the famous H.W. Wilson’s Library Literature. He also began teaching basic and advanced cataloging and bibliography courses in which he emphasized following cataloging and indexing rules to the minutest detail. His greatest achievement in this area is the compilation of an annotated bibliography on Quaid–e–Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, published in two volumes in 1978–79. Commenting on this publication, Haider says that even if Khurshid had no other works to his credit, this bibliography alone would have given him the high regard which he holds in Pakistan librarianship today [7].
Publications
Khurshid was a prolific writer in both the English and Urdu languages. He started with literary writings in Urdu and published 12 short stories and essays in several magazines of India between 1944 and 1947. However, he is known to the library world at large through his writings on various aspects of librarianship which number over 100 in both Urdu and English. Of them, he contributed over 30 articles in reputable journals such as Annals of Library Science, International Library Review, Journal of Library History, Libri, Third World Libraries, Unesco Bulletin for Libraries and others. He also served on the editorial boards of some of these journals. Many publishers and international organizations and associations considered him a resource person on Pakistan and invited him to contribute articles and chapters on Pakistan in such renowned publications as Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, ALA World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Services, International Handbook of Contemporary Developments in Librarianship, and Library in Society. He also wrote a few monographs, including Cataloguing of Pakistani Names (1964) and The State of Library Resources in Pakistan (1982). A complete record of his publications can be found in the three festschrift published in his honor [8].
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| Figure 2: Anis Khurshid Receiving the Pride of Performance Award from the President of Pakistan, Mr. Farooq Ahmad Leghari, in Islamabad. |
Awards and Honors
During his long professional career, Khurshid received numerous awards and honors. However, the Government of Pakistan’s President’s Award for Pride of Performance in Library and Information Science conferred upon him in 1996 was the true recognition of his phenomenal lifetime achievements at the national level. He was the first librarian to receive this award in Pakistan and will probably be the last for many years.
Notes
1. Kaula, P.N. “A Decade Recapitulated.” Herald of Library Science 14 (April–July 1975).
2. Khurshid, Anis, ed. Library Education across the Boundaries of Cultures: a Festschrift. Karachi: Library Science Department, University of Karachi, 1981.
3. Asheim, Lester. “Dr. Anis Khurshid: an Appreciation,” in Making of Librarianship in Pakistan: Presentation Volume to Honour Prof. Dr. Anis Khurshid, edited by Syed Jalaluddin Haider. Karachi: Bureau of Composition, Compilation & Translation, University of Karachi, 1987: 11.
4. Jackson, William Vernon. “Anis Khurshid and the International Library Information Center,” in Making of Librarianship in Pakistan. Karachi: Bureau of Composition, Compilation & Translation, University of Karachi, 1987: 17.
5. Fact Sheet on Libraries in Islamic Countries, edited by Anis Khurshid and others (Karachi: ISLIC, 1974); Librarianship in the Muslim World, 1984, edited by Anis Khurshid and Malahat Kaleem Sherwani (Karachi: ISLIC, 1985).
6. Khurshid, Anis. “A Pilot Public Library Project in Pakistan.” Pakistan Library Association Quarterly Journal 1 (July 1960): 22–24.
7. Haider, Syed Jalaluddin. “Ustad–e–Mohtaram Professor Dr. Anis Khurshid,” in Making of Librarianship in Pakistan. Karachi: Bureau of Composition, Compilation & Translation, University of Karachi, 1987: 50. [In Urdu].
8. “Dr. Anis Khurshid: Publications,” in Making of Librarianship in Pakistan …: 114–126; “Publications of Anis Khurshid in Chronological Order,” in Trends in International Librarianship: a Festschrift Honouring Anis Khurshid, edited by Naimuddin Qureshi and Zahiruddin Khurshid (Karachi: Royal Book Company, 1991); Zahiruddin Khurshid, “Anis Khurshid: a Bio–Bibliographic Study,” in Library and Information Services in Developing Countries: a Festschrift for Anis Khurshid, edited by Mumtaz A. Anwar, Abdus Sattar Chaudhry, and Mohammed Saleh J. Ashoor (Lahore: Library & Information Management Academy, 1993): 1–24.
About the author
Zahiruddin Khurshid is the Senior Manager, Cataloging Operations Department and Senior Manager (Acting), Systems Department at the King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals Library, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. He holds an MSLIS degree from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, N.Y. His publications have appeared in numerous journals.