Five Laws of Library Science

In the context of library science Dr. S. R. 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 detailed account of these laws and their implication were published in the form of a book in 1931 by Bombay Asia Publishing House. Most librarians worldwide accept them as the foundations of their philosophy.

The five laws of library science are:

a)      Books are for use.

b)      Every reader his / her book (i.e. books are for all).

c)      Every book its reader (i.e. every book in a library must find its reader)

d)     Save the time of the reader (i.e. a user is supposed to be a busy person. So his / her time must be saved). Corollary: Save the time of the staff.

e)      Library is a growing organism (A library always grows in terms of document i.e. book, reader or user and staff).

Description of the Five Law’s

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. The library becomes great not because of its collection or building but as a result of the use made of by its users. Therefore, the motto of a librarian should be to acquire process and serve document for use.

Implications of the first law

In Ranganathan’s own words the implications of the first laws 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.

b) Library Building and Furniture: The library building should be well planned, functional with enough space and at the same time aesthetic. The exterior should be inviting and the interior should be attractive. The furniture should be so provided as to give comfort to the readers and racks in which books are kept should not be high and books on the top shelves should be easily reachable.

c) Library Hours: 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.

d) Library Staff: In order to maximize the use of the library, it is essential that library staff should be qualified and efficient. Every member of the staff should perform the role of a friend, philosopher and guide to all those who come to the library to use it.

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.

g) Reference Service: The personal service will lead to greater use of library document.

The forces of the first law

The forces of the first law as a whole can be traced out as - 

- Make the library open access rather than traditional closed access;

- Make free access to the book world;

- Branch libraries should open in the larger cities in order to be easily reachable within a few minutes’ walk from each house;

- Books should be sent free to the houses of those that would offer to get them introduced in their neighbourhood;

- Books should be carried in motor van from street to street for their distribution amongst the residents.

The above forces of the first law will be possible only if library has enough funds and the library itself obtains free copy of books from different sources.

Second Law: Every Reader his / her Book (books are for all): 

According to the second law every reader of a library should have the books he/she want. Books or their lists should be shown or displayed before the reader for their valuable suggestion. The second law emphasises not only selections of book for the normal people but also for the physical handicraft and the blind readers.

 

Implication of the second law

Ranganathan examines the implication of the second law under the following four categories.

a) Obligation of the State

i) Library Legislation: In order to achieve the second law it is desirable that economy factor should not stand as a barrier. 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.

ii) Maintenance of a Library System (Network): As far as students, teachers and researchers are concerned the public library plays only a marginal role in fulfilling the second law. Therefore, the state also has the responsibility of establishing other types of libraries like school library, college library, university library and special library.

iii) Coordination and Resource Sharing: A given library would not have the finance to purchase documents on occasional demand. Therefore the second law would suggest the formulation of a National library network to share the resources, especially for the purpose of inter-library loan.

b) Obligation of the Library Authority

i) Choice of Book (Book Selection): The selection should be based on individual needs. The library authority should ensure the proper selection and acquisition policy in order to build up a balanced collection in the library for each category of users i.e. the blind, neo-literates, scholars, children, young, adult, man, women, etc.

ii) Choice of the Staff: The library authority should select an 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.

c) Obligation of the Library Staff

i) 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.

ii) Cataloguing: Sometimes 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.

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

iv) Maintenance: In case of open access libraries there is every possibility of some document being misplaced intentionally or unintentionally by the patron of the library. To fulfil the second law misplaced books must be restored to their proper places. Books in need of binding or repair should be taken out from the shelves from time to time.

v) Reference Service: The library staff should have proper training in reference work and be able to provide an effective reference service to the user in getting the right book.

d) Obligation of the Reader

i) Library Rules should be followed: A user must realize that library rules are framed to get the maximum out of the library resources and to prevent the misuse of library resources.

ii) Maintenance of the System: A user should not misplace the books within the library or damage; similarly a user should not mutilate or take out cards from the library catalogue, tear pages or steal etc.

iii) Should not ask for Any Undue Special Privileges: The Library is meant for every body’s use and no one should have undue privileges at the expense of others.

iv) Returns of Books in Time: The books that are borrowed must be returned on or before due date so that other users do not have to suffer.

Third Law: Every Book its Reader: 

Every book in a library must find 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.

Implications of the third law

The following measures should be adopted for giving effect to this law.

a) 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.

b) Provision of Popular Department: The provision of popular department like newspaper reading room, periodical section, etc. offer baits to the reader and such provision increases the chances for every book to get its reader.

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

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

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

f) Reference Service: There must be the provision for personal assistance to each reader when they feel they need it.

Fourth Law: Save the Time of the Reader:  

A user is supposed to be a busy person; so his / her time must be saved. Corollary of this law is “save the time of the staff”.  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.

Implications of the fourth law

The implications of the fourth law are as follows:

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

b) 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.

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

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

e) Signage System: Stack room guide, bay guides, tier guides, gangway guides should be provided to save the time of the reader.

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

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

h) Centralized Cataloguing: Cataloguing in press, cataloguing in publication, cataloguing with the aid of OCLC database greatly reduce the time factor.

i) Information Technology: The use of IT in libraries invariably speeds up many activities. So to fulfil the fourth law the IT should be introduced.

Fifth Law: Library is a Growing Organism: 

The main components of the library are documents, the user and the staff. 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 its 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.

Implications of the fifth law

The implication of the fifth law of library and information science are:

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

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

c) Physical Forms of Catalogue: The physical forms of catalogue chosen should have the provision of updating, sorting in different order, editing and so on.

d) Weeding out of Document: To make the space for new addition the documents that are obsolete and unused should be weeded out.

e) 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 (i.e. acquisition, circulation, cataloguing etc.).

Previously the libraries grew with the collection, but nowadays the digital library, or virtual library or e-library does not show the characteristics of the growing of a library by volume. The growth is in the use of sophisticated technologies.

Ranganathan’s five laws of library science consist of five short statements but they provide guidance and rationale for practice and teaching of library and information science. With the help of these laws, we can derive postulates, cannons and principles applicable in different fields of library and information science.  The first three laws emphasize the exploitation of the documents of the library fully by the maximum number of users. The fourth law gives emphasis on the role of reference librarian and has a great potentiality to bring reforms in the running of libraries. All laws as a whole will serve as source of inspiration and guidance in the years to come.

REFERENCE : FIVE LAWS OF LIBRARY SCIENCE 

                         OR, PANCHSEEL OF LIBRARY  SCIENCE

                         BY DR. S. R. RANGANATHAN