Credit to: The Statesman, Kolkata ed. 25/01/2014, Suchayan Mandal 
New Delhi, 25 January: Your street library may soon sport a sleek appearance, librarians will be helpful and informative, fans and the AC system will work perfectly, and flipping through a book or a magazine will be  sheer delight. To top it all, you will have access to reading materials on your computer set.    
Under the National Mission on Libraries (NML), an ambitious plan of the Culture Ministry is being implemented to arrest the dwindling footfall in libraries and give a fillip to the reading habits of Indians by modernising and digitally linking around 5,000 public libraries across the country. 
The culture secretary, Mr Ravindra Singh, said the NML’s chief objective is to bolster the learning capacity of India, widen the population of readers and deliver a top rate user-friendly library system. “We plan to accomplish this objective through a two-pronged strategy: improvement of infrastructure and upgradation of technology in libraries on the one hand and capacity building on the other,” he pointed out. 
“Public libraries have a crucial role in dissemination of knowledge and information. Through innovative ways, we are going to engage citizens in both the physical and digital space and help them access reading material in print and electronic form with the help of ICT," he said. 
The government had approved the ministry's scheme for upgradation of libraries under NML on 28 November last year. 
NML was set up in pursuance of a report of the National Knowledge Commission, headed by Mr Sam Pitroda, which made a strong case for revamping the library and information service sector. 
The Kolkata-based Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation has been designated the nodal agency for the execution of NML. 
“Since creation of new institutions or libraries may not be feasible, it is better to upgrade the existing libraries by improving their infrastructure,” said Mr K K Banerjee, director general of Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation. 
New library buildings will be constructed while the existing ones are to be renovated/extended through painting of their exteriors and interiors. The new-look libraries will have Wi Fi enabled reading rooms with modular furniture, modern lighting system, carrels for scholars, senior citizens and specially abled persons, modern signs, power backup, purified drinking water equipment and washrooms. In addition, there will be specially designed furniture and games facilities for children, besides Internet, conference room, recording room and training-cum-meeting rooms. “There is an imperative need for libraries in India to make a paradigm shift from their existing strategy of collection or acquisition of knowledge to access of knowledge. NML is designed to ensure this course correction,” noted Mr V Srinivas, joint secretary, Culture Ministry. 
In tune with the demands of the Internet era, libraries will be automated and computerised. 
In the revamped libraries, cataloguing will be done not only of the books and the journals but also of all policies of the government in public domain to facilitate easy access and research work. Efforts will also be made to provide reading material in a multilingual mode. 
Libraries covered under NML will create facilities for providing e-journal/e-book services to the patrons and procure reading resources to meet local needs. For advocacy and outreach programmes, they will be required to hold quiz contests, music competitions and creative writing workshops. They can also open extension counters in local schools for the benefit of students and teachers. For maintaining data repositories, cloud computing technology is to be adopted by the libraries. 
Library professionals working in public libraries will be given need-based training to improve their managerial skill and competence to utilise ICT applications. Training has been planned for all categories of personnel ~ elementary, middle and top level.  
The formal announcement of NML will be on 3 February at the President's House.