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| Five Laws of Library Science |
The Five Laws of Library Science were enunciated in 1928 by the late Dr. S. R.
Ranganathan, the Librarian of the University of Madras.
>First formal
exposition occurred at the Provincial Educational Conference; held at
Chidambaram in December 1928. The book was officially Published in 1931.
These five laws are:
1• Books are for use
2• Every reader his/her book
3• Every book its reader
4• Save the time of the reader
5• The library is a growing organism
1. Books are for use (First Law)
The First Law of Library Science is simple and states a self evident truth. In ancient and medieval periods, the use of books was limited and the emphasis was on storage and preservation rather than on use. The libraries were regarded as institutions for preserving the books. With the onset of post-industrial society, the concept of modern library came into being. The library is now regarded as a service institution to serve the social information needs of its users. Ranganathan did not reject the notion, that preservation and storage were important. But, he asserted that the purpose of such activities was to promote the use of books. By emphasizing on the use of books, he focused attention
on access-related issues such as location, building, library hours, book selection,
library staff, etc. Ranganathan suggests following methods for maximizing the
use of books.
Implications of the First Law
a) Location
The first law states that the library
should be located at a central place where it is convenient to reach so that it will easier for everyone to visit.
—Free from noise and other disturbances.
—A school library should be located at a prominent place in the school where the students will take easy notice of it, so too a college library.
The description of a university library as the heart of the university should be reflected in its geographical location also.
b) Library Hours
Another implication of this law is that the library hours should be convenient to users.
c) Library Building and Furniture
The first law demands that proper attention should be paid to the planning and
designing of the library building and to the various items of furniture provided in the building. The building should be functional and at the same time aesthetic.
The furniture should also be functional and attractive'. If the racks on which the books are kept too high and the books on the top shelves cannot be easily reached, the use of books becomes difficult. The furniture used in children's libraries should be specially designed for children keeping in view the goal of the promotion of the use of books. The furniture should be attractive and comfortable so that users will feet tempted to frequent the library.
d) Staff
The first law, for its fulfilment, calls for certain qualifications and qualities for the
library staff. .They should possess the qualifications that would enable them to
organise the library efficiently and provide satisfactory services. This would ensure the proper use of books. But more important than formal qualifications are perhaps the personal qualities of the library staff. They should be courteous, cheerful and helpful. "Service with a smile" should be the motto. The staff should always remember that everything that they do in the library is a means towards an end and the end is service to readers. If a potential library user encounters an unhelpful attitude on-the part of any member of the staff, he is sure to turn away permanently from the library. The result is that the cause of the First Law is not served. The credibility of the staff, in respect of their knowledge, ability and personal attitude 'to readers; is a crucial factor in the promotion of the use of books.
(E) Book Selection
Book selection should meet the needs of the present and potential users. The selection should also consider physical appearance of the books and ease of handling. The books should be kept clean and in good condition. Worn out and obsolete books should be weeded out from the library collection from time to time.
2. SECOND LAW “EVERY READER HIS/HER BOOK”
Every reader his/her book is the Second Law of library science. A variant of this
law is, "Books for All". This law stands for the mandatory provision of library service to each according to his need. Every reader of a library should have the books he wants. It advocates the universalisation and democratisation of library service. According to Ranganathan, if the First Law replaced the concept that, “books
are for preservation”, the Second Law widens the concept that “books for the
chosen few.” If the approach of the First Law is from ‘books’ point of view, the approach of the Second Law is from ‘users’ point of view. It emphasizes the availability of library services to every kind of reader, irrespective of age, sex, vocation, the capacity for self help and the ability to read.
Implications of the Second Law
It imposes a number of obligations on:
The State,
The Library Authority,
The library staff, and
The readers
Implications of the Second Law:
The second law imposes certain obligations on the state, the library authority of the state, the library staff and the reader.
(a) Obligation of the State
Establishment and maintenance of library systems and their development along
proper lines is a State’s responsibility. To meet this responsibility, the State has certain obligations. The first and the foremost is the library legislation. Through
library legislation, the State can create the public library system in different areas by its policies and decisions, which makes adequate provisions regarding library cess, percentage of the cess to be collected from the people and grants to be given by the Government for library system. Legislation leads to cooperation.
(b) Obligation of Library Authority
The choice of the books and choice of the staff are the two necessary obligations of library authority.
(i) Choice of Books
Selection of books is determined by the demands of the users. Demand refers to the selection of reading material for a given library. It is the duty of the library
authority to make necessary provisions to build up collection for the community to be served. A comprehensive user survey of different groups of people can be done in this respect. This will help to build up collection according to the tastes and interest of the readers.
(ii) Choice of Staff
Careful selection of books is not an ultimate aim of the library. To exploit these resources, competent library staff is needed. Only competent staff can satisfy the user’s requirements and be able to locate books and other materials that they
want. To implement the Second Law, the library authorities should make all possible efforts to recruit well qualified library staff at the stage of planning.
(c) Obligation of the Library Staff
The objectives of Second Law cannot be achieved unless the library staff
discharge their obligations in an efficient manner. To perform their duties, the
library staff has to adopt certain attitudes and practices to realize the word “His”.
Providing reading material is not the only duty of the library staff.
(d) Obligation of the Reader
The Second Law imposes certain obligations on the reader towards library. It
is the duty of the reader to follow the rules and regulations of the library in order to use and utilize library resources in an effective and efficient manner.
3. Every Book its Reader (Third Law)
The Third Law stresses the maximum use of books by their readers. It urges that an appropriate reader should be found for every book. It is closely related to the Second Law, but it focuses on the book itself suggesting that each book in a library has an individual or a number of readers who would find that book useful. It is the duty of the library staff to bring the readers in contact with books. The Law advocates an open access system, classified shelf arrangement, subject analytical entries, provision of reference services, publicity methods, extension services and book selection policy.
Implications of the Third Law
(a) Open Access
In an open access system, the reader is allowed to select books/items on the shelves on his/her own. It increases the use of the books. Open access, thus helps in achieving the Third Law.
(b) Shelf Arrangement
The Law emphasizes the need to arrange the books on shelves in classified sequence based on their thought content. This arrangement brings books on the same subject together for easy browsing. If the shelf area is provided with well devised guides and labels, the use of each item increases.
(c) Easy Access
Another important factor helping every book to get its reader is that the books
may be placed within the easy reach of the readers. The Third Law emphasizes
that the height of the racks should not be more than the average height of the
reader, i.e., the topmost shelf of a book rack should be within easy reach of a person of average height. The shelf should not have more breadth than required.
(d) Catalogue
The Third Law also advocates that the library catalogue should play an
important role to provide every book to its reader. Subject analytical entries help
in finding readers for a suitable book. There are series entries and subject cross reference entries. The series entries provide information about the whole set of
books to the reader. In alphabetical part of the catalogue, all the entries having the same series as the heading are brought together. In the classified part of the catalogue, subject cross reference entries help to find a specific reader for the
documents having a subject as the heading. It also indicates that the book is placed under different subjects.
(e) Publicity
Publicity through annual reports, library bulletins and magazines, printed catalogues, subject book lists, list of latest additions, etc. is a powerful technique
to attract the attention of readers to find every book its reader.
(f) Display of Books
The newly added books to the library should be displayed as it enhances the
chance of every book to find its reader.
4. Save the Time of the Reader (Fourth Law)
This Law requires that there should be no time lag between the demand received
from the user and the document supplied. This Law makes its approach from
the point of view of the user. It almost completely centres on the user from the
moments he/she enters the library to the moments he/she leaves it. The objective
of this Law is to save the time of the reader. To provide better services, it is required that, latest technologies in library operations be adopted and users be trained to use them independently.
Implications of the Fourth Law
(a) Classified arrangement
The classified arrangement of books in the stack room saves the time of the reader, as it is easy for a reader to find all books on the same subject arranged at one place for browsing. The arrangement of entries in the catalogue cabinet in classified manner, aids the reader to select the books easily from the respective shelves. The Fourth Law, therefore, calls for classified arrangement of books in the stack room.
(b) Catalogue Entry
In case of composite books, classified arrangement is sufficient to save objective
time of the reader. The various facets of composite books can be brought to the notice of the reader by making cross references and subject analytical entries.
Therefore, the Fourth Law calls for
(i) classified arrangement of cards in the
catalogue cabinet, and (ii) analytical entries for composite books. In order to
save the valuable time of the reader, the Fourth Law also recommends a bipartite
classified catalogue for this purpose, because readers have diverse approaches
to find books, i.e., author, title, collaborator or series approach. In the classified part, the entries are arranged in the filiatory sequence, each subject is represented by an ordinal number, i.e., class number. In the alphabetic part, the author, title, collaborator and subject approach is provided.
(c) Open Access
The Fourth Law strongly opposes the process of the closed access system. It supports open access system for saving the time of the reader.
(d) Reference Services
The Law supports that the library staff should provide adequate personal help
to their readers, such help is known as reference service. A reference library
staff should have adequate professional knowledge and be active to serve their
reader in an efficient and effective manner. The message “save the time of the reader” makes all necessary efforts to meet demands of the reader in least
possible time with the help of reference cum guidance services. The reference
librarian should be able to answer the queries of readers by providing ready
reference service and long range reference service with the help of information
tools. Therefore, a reference librarian should be humble, friendly, devoted and
with a positive attitude to welcome every visitor to the library.
(e) Issue Method
Adopting efficient circulation system is another step towards saving the time
of the reader. This enables maximum books being issued and returned in
minimum possible time. The system used should provide answer to the
following queries:
What and how many books are lent on a given date?
How many books have been loaned out to a given person?
What books are due for return on a given date?
(f) Centralized/ Pre-natal Cataloguing
To save the time of the staff, Ranganathan has advocated pre-natal centralized
cataloguing and classification. The law urges the library to evolve a uniform
cataloguing code to make way for international cooperative cataloguing. It also supports the centralized documentation work at international level to save time,
money and manpower.
(g) Stack Room Guides
To save the time of the reader, the library should provide an efficient system
of guides in the stack room. The guides, along with placing tags, should enable
the readers to find the books easily.
(h) Library Location
The Fourth Law also deals with the time taken by the readers to reach the library.
It should be so located as to save the time of the readers. But, the location of
urban area libraries is not always equally accessible from all parts of city due
to geographical constraints. The Law demands setting up of the branch libraries
and delivery stations for the same. In rural areas, a branch library can be as useful as in the town. The rural population can also be served by the mobile vans which serve the small libraries and delivery stations. All these libraries should be connected and operated with district central library.
Thus, this Law deals with the different aspects of library policy and administration for reducing the time factor in all the library activities. The devices proposed in the law are the best classification and cataloguing system, open access, shelf arrangement, stack room guides, reference service and central location of the library. The basic objective of all such measures is to save the time of the reader.
5. Library is a Growing Organism (Fifth Law)
The Fifth Law states, “library is a growing organism”. It is an accepted idea
that a library along with its services is a growing organism. This Law maintains
that the library as an institution, has all the attributes of a growing organism, which takes in new matter, casts off old matter, changes in size and takes shapes and forms like human beings. Since library is trinity of books, readers and staff, it is bound to grow in all three respects. Therefore, library authorities
should plan the library building in such a way so as to make it easy to keep
pace with the necessary growth in size of collection, number of readers and the
members of staff.
According to Ranganathan, the growth of an organism can be of two kinds,
growth as of body of the child and growth as the body of an adult. He compared
the growth of a storage or repository library and service library to that of child
and adult respectively. A child’s growth is characterized by the overall increase
in size and weight. Similarly the building of a repository library should be
capable of growth to incorporate additional material. On the other hand the
building of a service library need not grow beyond a certain size, as is the case
with the body of an adult.
Implications of the Fifth Law
(a) Growth in Size
As the body of a child grows steadily in size and weight, similarly a newly
started library grows steadily in size in terms of reading material. The growth
and size of reading material has effects on:
(b) Library Building
Stack area
Circulation area
Reading room area, etc.
(c) Growth of Readers
The growth of a library is dependent upon the growth of its readers. The growth
of readers affects:
the size of the reading room
the issue method
certain safeguards (in case of open access system)
(d) Growth of Staff
With the growth in size of reading material and the readers, increase in the
number of the staff is inevitable. The book selection activity, cataloguing
section, binding section, periodical section and the reference section have to
grow as the library grows. The Fifth Law advocates that the library authorities
make all necessary provisions for growth of library staff in these sections.
The Fifth Law urges the library authorities to provide adequate well qualified
and trained staff to serve its readers. It also supports the development and
enhancement of the working environment in accordance with the latest tools
and techniques in the working area.
Looking through the library literature, one can see clearly the same Five Laws
discussed, reused, or re-worded in different contexts.The American interpretation of Ranganathan’s Five Laws of Library Science as given in 1975, is as follows:
1. Books are for use.
(Tapes, films, records, relic and books are for use in the information
delivery system)
2. Every reader his book.
(Every Reader his/ her medium)
3. Every book its reader.
(To every tape, record, etc. its utility)
4. Save the time of the reader.
(Save the down time of the patron)
5. Library is a growing organism.
(A learning resources center is a growing organism)
Additional laws: criticism and additions;
In 1992, James R. Retting devised a Sixth Law as an extension of Ranganthan’s
Five Laws. The Sixth Law is “Every reader his freedom”.
Jim Thompson (1992) revised Ranganathan’s Laws as follows:
1. Books are for profit.
2. Every reader his bill.
3. Every copy its reader.
4. Take the cash from the reader.
5. The library is a growing organism.
Kuronen and Pekkarinen have suggested two supplementary (6th and 7th) Laws
to Ranganathan’s Five Laws:
6. Every reader his library.
7. Every writer his contribution to library.
In 1998, Michael Gorman and Wait Crawford focused on the validity of the
Five Laws and suggested five new laws as an extension of the first Five Laws.
These are:
1. Libraries serve humanity.
2. Respect all forms by which knowledge is communicated.
3. Use technology intelligently to enhance services.
4. Protect free access to knowledge.
5. Honour the past and create the future.
In 2004 Alireza Noruzi applied Ranganathan’s Five Laws to the web in his paper “Application of Ranganathan Laws to the web”. They are:
1. Web resources are for use.
2. Every user his or her web resources.
3. Every web resource its user.
4. Save the time of the user.
5. The web is a growing organism.
In 2008, Carol Simpson revised these laws and applied them in the field of
media.
They are:
1. Media are for use.
2. Every patron his information.
3. Every medium its user.
4. Save the time of the patron.
5. The library is a growing organism.
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References and Further Readings1. Epgpathshala| Five Laws of Library Science2. Egyan Kosh Laws of Library Science3. http://www.aallnet.org/main-menu/Publications/llj/LLJ-Archives/Vol-95/pub_llj_v95n03/2003-28.pdf
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Notes