Dear friends What sort of proficiency are we talking about? Is it English as a means of communication or as a literary language? My personal feeling is that (please excuse me if I am incorrect) while selecting librarians, the selectors put more emphasis on communication skills in English (I mean spoken English). We belong to a profession which needs proficiency at least to a certain level, in both spoken as well as written English. Also, we need a fair knowledge of the local vernacular language. I disagree with Mr Jha that LIS schools should teach the course as a professional course and not as an academic discipline. I think this attitude has contributed a lot towards the downfall of the subject as an academic discipline in the country. There has been no basic research in LIS after Dr Ranganathan. Anyway, that is totally a different matter. So knowledge of English is, though an important one, but should not be the sole criterion for judging a better Library professional. Regards.. Prabhash N. Rath, Ph.D. Documentation Officer Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics Pune - 411004 Tel: 91+20-25650287 (O.) 91+20-25678311 (R.) E-mail: prabhashrath@yahoo.com