Library Automation in Public Libraries: Need and Importance Public Library is a kind of library which is accessed by general public, funded by public sources and managed by library professionals. Basically public library is supported by taxes, governed by a body or board to serve the public interest, open to all. This kind of library is found throughout the world and is different from school libraries, college or university libraries. This kind of library allows its users to access and use of books, journals, magazines, maps and atlases, reference books etc. under the duty of social obligations. Public Library has different kind of users' category such as Children, Students, House Wives, Senior Citizens, Managers, Doctors, and Lawyers etc. These libraries also provide the same services being provided by any academic or special library. Thus, it becomes necessary to automate this kind of library also. Library Automation is the process which replace the manual work in mechanical way so as to make the work easy and fast. By library automation, the housekeeping operation can be mechanized easily and the bibliographic record can also be utilized by another library. Library automation not only brings the speed & accuracy but also economy and help in providing quick and prompt library services. In general, the importance of library automation will be as: a) Better access to the collection b) Resource sharing with other libraries c) Consistency in the collection d) Help in federated searching e) Removal from clerical and duplicacy work/job f) Accuracy in report generation Thanks, -- ********************* D. P. Tripathi Assistant Librarian Biju Patnaik Central Library NIT Rourkela Odisha - 769008 ********************** -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.