Patna: A one-day workshop on librarianship was organised in Khuda Bakhsh Library in Patna. Paper and library have a similar relationship as body and soul. Various aspects of paper production, paper conservation, and library science were discussed in this workshop.
About 30 girl students from Ganga Devi Women’s College (Patliputra University), the Department of Library Science, Maulana Mazharul Haque Arabic Persian University, and Patna University participated in the workshop.
The Director of Khuda Bakhsh Library, Dr Shaista Bedar, introduced the library and told about its importance and objectives. He said that librarianship is a very pious profession. By which society can be served, the new generation can be connected with education as well as moral values.
In today’s technological era, along with mobile and computer utilities, the importance of books was also explained. Important research and editing works of the Khuda Bakhsh Library were brought to the fore, including the publication of the oldest dictionary of Hindi, Hindu Manuscripts in the Library, and Hinduism in Bihar.
A list of all Arabic, Urdu, Persian, and Hindavi manuscripts (about 20,000) preserved in the library was prepared in English and put on the website.
On this occasion, Dr. Chittaranjan, associated with the paper industry, made a presentation on paper production. He explained in detail how paper is made, and shed light on traditional and modern methods of papermaking. Dr. Chittaranjan has been associated with paper making institutions for a long time.
Dr. Nooruddin, Preservation Chemist of Khuda Bakhsh Library, made a presentation on the preservation of library materials. He highlighted in detail on the paper the adverse effects of the environment and insects and their remedies.
Overall, the gist of the discussion was that librarianship preserves books, makes them readable after conservation, and brings to attention books that have been shelved for centuries, waiting for researchers. The library publishes research and editorial books, scholarly works. Similarly, the librarians who are coming here today have to do the same work tomorrow. This workshop was made even more successful by the discussion at the end of the programme.
