Performance evaluation and social cultural contribution of public libraries in south region Ahmednagar district (M.S.)

Abstract

An Indian public library development remains uneven throughout the country, with varying levels of quality both within and across states. As state differs in size, population, literacy rate, public library system also differs from state to state so far as its infrastructural facilities and patterns are concerned. A library in Municipal Town in our country is designated as Town Library and one outside Municipal Town as Rural Libraries. Again, the rural libraries in some states form a part of the public library system and in some other states they came under the jurisdiction of Adult Education Department or Public relation Department. Aided Libraries in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Kerala have been grouped into different categories on the basis of the size, resources and strength of Library whether located urban or village center.On one hand rural libraries are highly underdeveloped whereas on the other, certain urban public library systems, in cities such as Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore, exhibit fairly well-developed infrastructures. Southern states specially Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka have a fairly operational public library setup. In the absence of uniformity, it becomes difficult to define what exactly constitutes a public library. A small room in an urban slum or village with a few books is in less than a central library for village dwellers whereas a more formal organizational structure and technology based service model is required for urban libraries. Though Indian public library development may have the capacity to redefine how public libraries can be run and can serve their communities, several challenges lie ahead for formulation of a concrete public library policy.So researcher has chosen the topic, quotPerformance Evaluation and Social Cultural Contribution of Public Libraries in South Region of Ahmednagar District.quot For this research the researcher has chosen 50 Public libraries in 7 talukas, which Public Libraries are funded by, Govt. of Maharashtra Public Library Act.1967 in South region