Dear Friends, While the entire country embraces GST from 1st July 2017, the apprehensions expressed by some States about revenue losses cannot be taken lightly. The ‘subsuming’ of library cess along with more than 25 cesses & levies, might be detrimental to the survival of public libraries which are already in trouble. We all know that apart from the RRRLFs matching grant, library cess which is being collected by the States for the maintenance of public libraries is the only source of funding. Today, our public libraries are in a pathetic condition mainly due to shortage of funds because in many cases the library cess that is collected by the local panchayats and municipal bodies is mostly diverted to other works instead of passing on to the State's public library Directorate. The Ministry of Finance’s assurance of collecting additional cess on luxury goods for another five years to compensate the States’ revenue losses is only on paper. Even if the Central Government has agreed in principle to offer full compensation for the revenue losses in the coming five years, its implementation and outcome is yet to be ascertained. While GST may foster economic growth, both Central and State Governments should not ignore civic services like public libraries in their efforts to push economic growth. If the States do not provide alternative source of funding for public libraries, they may altogether disappear into oblivion. In the new GST, public library services are exempted; however, the funding & maintenance of public libraries will definitely be affected in the absence of library cess. I feel that public libraries are in great danger unless some alternative arrangements are put in place by the concerned Ministries. I request all my fellow library professionals and library associations to come together and express our concern and put forward an appeal to the State and Central Governments for a separate budget for the development and maintenance of public libraries. Dr. M. Koteswara Rao Retd. Librarian, UoH -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.