The Department of Library and Information Science organised a program on National Librarian’s Day and 125^th Birth Anniversary of Dr.S.R.Ranganathan (father of Library Science in India) on 18^th August, 2016. The program was attended by the faculty members, Research Scholars and the students of the Department. The chief guest of the occasion was Padmashri Prof. Syed Zillur Rahman (President, Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine and Sciences, Aligarh) and the function was presided over by the Chairman DLIS and the President of Indian Library Association, Prof. Shabahat Husain. The coordinator of the program was Prof. Naushad Ali, P.M.

The chief guest, Prof. Syed Zillur Rahman articulated that the libraries and the museums are the nerve centers of the culture in our society and made a mention of preserving and conserving the cultural assets of our society, as they are the identities of our existence. While congratulating the chairman of the department for organising such programmes, Prof. Rahman stressed upon celebrating the birth anniversary of Padmashri Prof. S. Bashiruddin (Ex-University Librarian, M. A. Library, AMU) as well. He also expressed that the very essence of human existence on earth is doing something good for the society and the preservation of culture and language, is one of the most important aspects to work on for upholding the distinctiveness of our civilization.

While providing a picturesque representation of Dr. S.R.Ranganathan’s life changing lessons and his contributions to the field of library science, Prof. Shabahat Husain dwelled upon     the philosophical basis of libraries and librarianship. He described three categories of human beings in our society, namely the followers, the leaders, and the Pattern Makers. Dr. S.R.Ranganathan is one of the profiles in the third category of rare group of persons. Prof. Husain also mentioned the contributions of Prof. Syed Zillur Rahman and expressed that there are a lot of similarities between Dr. S.R.Ranganathan and the Prof. Syed Zillur Rahman, in serving the society and living a saintly life for the knowledge and an urge for giving back to the society.

Prof. Naushad Ali, P.M elegantly welcomed the chief guest, president of the function and the audience and gave a comprehensive stance of the life sketch of Dr. S.R.Ranganathan. He made a mention that the national librarian’s day is not only celebrated to recognise the services of libraries and library science leaders and but at the same time conveys us the message of hard working, dedication, commitment to the duties and a sense of responsibility. Prof. Ali expressed that the day should be remembered by refreshing and rejuvenating ourselves for the newer skills and techniques to serve more effectively to the society.

Dr. M. Masoom Raza (Associate Professor, DLIS), Ms. Sofia Alvera and Mr. Mohd. Rahimullah were the representative speakers from the faulty members, research scholars and the students respectively.

The vote of thanks was presented by Dr. Muzamil Mushtaq (Assistant Professor, DLIS) and the program was conducted by Ms. Areeba Tauseef (Research Scholar in the Department).