Five laws of library science. Explain the implications of five laws.

Five Laws of Library Science:

Dr.Shiyali Ramamitra Ranganathan conceived the five laws of library science in 1924.The statement embodying these laws were formulated i.e. the laws took the final form in 1928 and a detail account of these laws and their implication were published in the form of a book in 1931 by Bombay Asia Publishing House.  

The five laws of library science 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. Library is a growing organism.

Implications of Five Laws:

First Law: Books are for use

              The first law embodies an elementary principle and all the other laws of library science are based on the first law.

           In Ranganathan own words the implications of the first Law of library science are :

a) Location of the Library :  Location of the library should be the one which is conveniently accessible to the community to be served. A public library should be at a place which most citizens can frequently visit regularly on some business or other; at the same time the location should be as free from noise and other disturbances as possible so that serious study can be made. A University library should be centrally located. A special library should be near the factory entrance or factory canteen. In case of school and college libraries the location does not matter very much because distances are small from various sections. However it would be preferable to have it centrally located.

b)  Library Building and Furniture : The library building should be well planned. The furniture should be so provided as to give comfort to the readers and to make use of the resources of the library as conveniently as possible.

c)  Library Hours : The opening hours of the library should be decided keeping in view the need of the user. The influence of the first law on library hours has resulted in opening for long hours and on all days of the year without any holidays. Library hours should also be convenient to the users.

d)  Library Staff : Staff form an important component of any library. The first law of library science for its fulfilment calls for certain qualifications and qualities for library staff. The library staff should possess qualifications that would enable them to organise library efficiently and provide satisfactory services.

e)  Book Selection : The books should be selected and acquired keeping in view the present and potential requirement of the user.

f)  Shelf Arrangement : The books should be classified, catalogued and arranged according to a helpful sequence.

Second Law :  Every Reader His/Her Book

          The second law is, every reader his/her book. According to the second law every reader of a library should have the books he/she wants. It advocates for a mandatory provision of library services to each reader according to his/her need.

          This Law has many important implications for the library :

  1.  Obligation of the State 

      a)  Library Legislation : This will be possible through library legislation, which will provide for finance of public libraries at various levels to achieve free library services for all.

     b)  Maintenance of a Library System: As far as students, teachers and researchers are concerned the public plays only a marginal role in fulfilling the second law. Therefore, the state also has the responsibility of establishing other types of libraries.

       c)  Co ordination and Resource Sharing :  The second law would suggest the formulation of a National library network to share the resources, especially for the purpose of inter-library loan.

    2. Obligation of the Library Authority

       a) Choice of Book: The second law implies that all the books that can be useful should be selected and all the useless books should be discarded.

      b)  Choice of the Staff: The library authority should select en adequate and competent team of library staff and it should take utmost care in the recruitment of the library personnel, their subsequent promotion, recognition and status.

     3. Obligation to the Library Staff

   a) Open Access:  The library staff should also feel the obligation to introduce open access to help the readers in gaining access to all the books of possible interest to them.

 b) Cataloguing: Some time the information contained in a chapter or a few pages of a book may be of interest to a reader but the users often tend to miss such content. To avoid such oversight the library should introduce subject analytical or cross reference entries.

     c)  Shelf Arrangement: The shelf should be arranged according to the subject of the document and not based on the size and other aspects. 

Third Law: Every Book Its Reader

         The third law of library science is "Every Book Its Reader". This law emphasizes the approach to the document. According to this law, every book in a library must find its reader, not a single item should be lost in the darkness of the stack.

         The implications of the third Law  of library science are :

1. Introducing Open Access: In the open access system books are arranged in shelves in the classified order and the readers have freedom to access them.

2. Book Selection: Best attention should be paid to book selection so that the chances of books remaining unused are reduced.

3. Cataloguing: Subject cataloguing, series entries, cross reference entries etc. may often reveal to the reader the books which might not have otherwise been noticed.

4. Shelf Arrangement: If the shelf arrangement is made by the subject approach then there are better chances of books finding their reader.

5. Reference Service: There must be the provision for personal assistance to each reader when they feel they need it. The reference staff should act as a canvassing agent for book.

6. Provision of Popular Department: The provision of popular department like newspaper reading room, periodical section etc offer baits to the reader. Recent additions, rare books, specific collection, festival collection etc. displayed at prominent places attracts the reader's attention.

Fourth Law: Save The Time Of The Reader

       The fourth law presents the biggest challenge to the library administrator. A user is supposed to be a busy person; so his/her time must be saved. A reader coming to the library should get an exact and fast service; they should not be made to wait longer than necessary. Unnecessary delay may cause vexation and readers may be dissatisfied. Dissatisfied readers may cease to come to the library.

          The implications of the fourth law are: 

1. Location of the library: The library must be centrally located so that it is conveniently accessible to the community being served.

2. Open Access: There are many advantages of  introducing the open access. One of the major advantages of open access system is the subjective time decline which gives satisfaction to the readers.

3. Information technology: The use of IT in libraries invariably speed up many activities. So , to fulfill the fourth law the IT should be introduced.

4. Charging System: The issue method, charging and discharging should be done as quickly as possible.

5. Reference Service: The fourth law advocates the need of reference service.

6. Shelf Arrangement: The arrangement of documents according to the degree of mutual relationship of subjects would lead to saving the time to the readers.

7. Classification and Cataloguing: Proper Classification system which would bring together documents on a specific subject and also the related subject should be adopted.

Fifth Law: Library Is A Growing Organism:

            The fifth law is Library is a growing organism. A library always grows in terms of documents, the reader or the user and the staff. The growth of a new library can be compared to the growth of a child as it grows in every aspect. In case of a service library that has attained certain degree of stability it's growth can be compared with the growth of the adult i.e. it grows in terms of replacing old document by new one and new user will continuously replace the old one.

           The implications of the fifth Law of library and information science are:

1. Library Building: The library building should be modular and should have the provision of future growth.

2. Physical forma of Catalogue: The physical forms of catalogue chosen should have the provision of updating , shorting in different order, editing and so on. 

3.  Choice of Classification and Cataloguing Code: The classification and cataloguing scheme chosen should have the provision to keep apace with the development in the universe of subject.

4.  Wedding out of Document: To make the space for new addition the documents that are obsolete and unused should be weeded out . The weeded out document should be stored, where they are available for occasional use or at a central place with cooperation among libraries.

5.  Modernization,Computerization : Library that grows fast both in terms of size and services may have to go for the Computerization of various house -keeping operations.

                   

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