Dear Venkata,

Many thanks for forwarding this.

It is true, indeed, that Librarians are not getting the same status as lecturers and other professionals in the society.

The problem is not with Institution but with the individual in itself. I have personally come across many professionals having MLIS or M.Phil but not up-to-mark. Why???? Is it the structure of the course or what they learn? It is very easy to get first class in LIS if you know the basic, but this basic does not help in LIS profession. What they have learnt during their course period - they are unable to utilize the same in their institution.

For example how many candidates know to use DDC/Colon effectively and have a proper classification system in the Library. How many of us are good at giving proper user education??? There are many more such issues which cannot be discussed.

If you notice many of them (I should not be calling them professionals) use either the Library of Congress Catalogue or British Library Integrated Catalogue to classify the books, which in my opinion - using these for classification of Indian books is misleading and inappropriate for arrangement of books in a library.

My dear friend, Classification and Cataloguing is the essence of LIS and if you take them out anybody can be a Librarian.

Communication is one aspect which needs to be thoroughly improved. Communication can be improved through regular reading and interacting with the users and not through starting a movement. Here, again, the individual has to take the initiative.

I have also come across good Librarians and they are well placed in Asst. Professors grade. To be frank with you, they are really good in their work, in their ideology and have contributed towards the growth of the institution. Some of the Library Assistants are also well placed.

There is a saying "First Deserve and then Desire".  'Deserve' is not only qualification but other aspects in an individual. I am of the opinion that with 5 - 7 years of work experience in a library will easily get him a lecturer's scale.

My dear Venkata, if you notice, the Library Assistant's are paid in the grade of Rs.5500/-. The fact is that some Institutes take Library Assistant and call them Librarians and thus the Library Assistant feels that they are in Lecturer's grade.

The Librarians are not teaching and the ones who teach obviously get a lecturer's/asst professors grade.

Imagine the rigorous process which a Library lecturer has to undergo for a job in an institute. As a part of the interview process they have to teach a class in front of the higher authorities and then judged by students and faculty. Does this happen with non-teaching Librarian???

If you notice all Post Graduates are not Lecturers, they opt for different options and those who opt for lecturers/Asst Professor know the art of teaching. An institution cannot survive by taking lectures who do not know how to teach and those who know how to teach are paid the Lecturers/Asst Professors grade. But ironically, all PG in LIS wants Lecturers grade, the moment they join.

I hope am able to give you a clear picture on this.

With warm regards,

Sree Kumar Nair.