Public Libraries and Development Paradigm

Public libraries are considered to be the people’s universities that reduce the information divide between haves and have-nots, thus, helping to achieve socio-economic equity in this Information Age after 4IR (Fourth Industrial Revolution).

“A family living at the poverty level is unlikely to be able to afford a computer at home. Even with a computer, access to the Internet is another significant expense. A child might borrow a book from a public library; but it is not possible to take a computer home.”
Margaret Geller, American astrophysicist

IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) and UNESCO have defined public library in their ‘Public Library Manifesto 2022’ as: “… the local centre of information, making all kinds of knowledge and information readily available to its users.

It is an essential component of knowledge societies, continuously adapting to new means of communication to fulfil their mandate of providing universal access to and enabling meaningful use of information for all people.

Pakistan needs to build its knowledge base, and needs to ensure ‘universal access to information’, in which public libraries have an important role

It provides publicly accessible space for the production of knowledge, sharing and exchange of information and culture, and promotion of civic engagement.” In this document, they have proclaimed “…UNESCO’s belief in the public library as a living force for education, culture, inclusion and information, as an essential agent for sustainable development, and for individual fulfilment of peace and spiritual welfare through the minds of all individuals.”

“It is a great tool of dictators and tyrants, who want to get masses of people to do what they want, to make sure there are no libraries…The fact that there was no public library in Rwanda is one reason why genocide was possible.” Stephen Kinzer, American journalist

In the Indo-Pak subcontinent, the modern public libraries emerged during the ‘British Raj’.

The ‘Colonial Masters’ envisioned these libraries as exclusive spaces—with limited access to the general public—because these were subscription libraries, and not public libraries in the real sense.
Pakistan inherited this colonial legacy, and it has not changed it significantly.

The problem lies not only with the development practitioners, or with the public representatives’ unwillingness, but the librarians and LIS (Library and Information Science) academics also seem to be confused about the ‘idea of public library’. It is evident from their publications that any library which has ‘public’ in its name, even if it is a trust, or private, library, i.e. not supported by the public funds, or tax-money, is considered to be a public library. Moreover, it is hard to find a public library in Pakistan that provides all the library services that a contemporary public library provides in the developed world, without any subscription, or membership, fee, i.e. without any cost to users.

According to the ‘IFLA Library Map of the World’, Pakistan has a total of 341 public libraries that comes down to 1.8 public libraries per million of the population. IFLA recommends that “there should be one public library for every 3000 people”. For a population of 231 million approx., we need to have 77,000 public libraries. There is not only a dearth of public libraries, but even the ones available are outdated and suffer from resource constraints and staffing issues.

‘The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan’ enshrines ‘freedom of thought and expression’ in its preamble. It also aims to protect the fundamental rights, such as ‘Freedom of Speech’ (Article 19), ‘Right to Information’ (Article 19A). ‘Right of Access to Information Act’ was also passed in 2017. But all these provisions are futile unless people’s capabilities are developed to exercise these rights. Public libraries, through provision of ‘universal access to information’, can become excellent spaces of learning to develop these capabilities, especially for those who do not have access to formal education system.

‘Punjab Public Library’, in Lahore, which was established in 1884, is considered to be the oldest public library of Pakistan. Though, it is funded from the public exchequer, but all of its services are not accessible to all the residents of the Punjab irrespective of their socio-economic background. Similarly, the ‘Quaid-e-Azam Library’, in Lahore, also funded from the public exchequer, is a special library, thus, it provides limited access—i.e. circulation services are not available—to the graduates and researchers only.

The Coronation, now Allama Iqbal, Library of Faisalabad—established in 1911-12—has not grown with city, thus, has become inadequate to fulfill the needs of its residents. Even, the National Library of Pakistan is severely resource-constrained, and it is not easily accessible due to its location in the red-zone.

However, ‘eLibraries’, which were established in the Punjab, in 2018, was a good project.

Punjab Information Technology Board executed this project with the sponsorship of the Department of the Youth Affairs, Sports, Archeology & Tourism, Punjab. These were truly modern public libraries, as these were funded from the public exchequer, and no subscription fee was required to access their services. These libraries had physical books as well as digital resources. Access to the digital resources was provided through the laptops and tablets, available in their computer labs.

Each library also provided free ‘Wi-Fi’ access, as internet is now considered to be an essential need, and a human right, in this Information Age.
eLibraries also organized trainings and community events, such as book launch etc., in their auditoriums. The major shortcoming of these libraries was that the books were not being issued to the users, the reason being provided for this was, since there is no membership, or security, fee, that is why, books cannot be loaned. Sadly, these libraries are in a dilapidated condition since the project was handed over to the Sports Board Punjab, in 2020, with the suspension of the project staff, instead of expanding this project to all the districts of the Punjab.

In Pakistan, superficial emulation of the Global North (GN) is happening in the name of development and modernization, without understanding the essence of these knowledge societies, thus, it is turning us into mindless consumerists. The GN has built its foundations on its knowledge systems, in which public libraries have played an important role since 19th century. In contrast to that, Pakistan is focusing only on mega projects like dams, roads, real-estate instead of focusing on to build its knowledge base and ‘sustainable cities and communities’. ‘Real-estate quandary’ and ‘housing societies’ have become real anathema to the development in Pakistan, as the focus of development is not on building information infrastructure, and producing high quality human capital by providing ‘universal access to information’.

Considering the current state of public libraries in Pakistan, it is need of the hour that appropriate ‘Public Library Acts’ be passed and implemented at all levels of government, i.e. national, provincial and local. These acts can be helpful in establishment of a systematic network of libraries that are interconnected. Meanwhile, upgradation of existing public library infrastructure, and deployment of professional staff in the public libraries can be done. Moreover, public library should be made a compulsory part of each new housing project, before their approval by the city development authorities, like other public amenities; e.g. street lights, mosque, graveyard etc.

Public libraries are neglected in the development paradigm of Pakistan due to its focus on mega-projects of physical infrastructure. These spaces are not inclusive and up-to the mark to fulfill the needs of their users in the contemporary era. Pakistan needs to build its knowledge base, and needs to ensure ‘universal access to information’, in which public libraries have an important role to play, for all its citizens to reap benefits of the 4IR, and to enter into the 5IR as a developed country.  Public libraries need to become ‘community hubs’ instead of remaining ‘subscription libraries’.