Dr. Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan was a visionary who realized the importance of library legislation for the promotion and development of the library movement in India. He was a forward-thinking person totally dedicated to the cause of library and information science. He was fully aware of the role of libraries in improving education in any society. He understood the impact of educational progress for the development of the country and the effectiveness and usefulness of libraries to promote education.

In 1924, Dr. SR Ranganathan visited several public libraries during his stay in the UK. These visits allowed him to study the system, operation, financing and services of various libraries. As a consequence, he was convinced that library legislation alone would provide a systematic, well-integrated and efficient public library service. Since public libraries are informal educational agencies, it is mandatory for a welfare state to provide, maintain and develop a network of public libraries to meet the needs of the masses. A public library, being a popular institution essential, must be maintained with public funds, which must be collected in the most just manner. Only the government has the power and authority to impose and collect taxes through legal sanction, therefore library legislation is essential to collect the library tax. Therefore, it is evident that it is imperative that the government enact library legislation for the establishment and proper functioning of a network of public libraries to meet the educational needs of the general public.

Dr. SR Ranganathan was the first person in India who thought of the need for library legislation in 1925 after returning to India from England. He drafted a ‘Model Library Law’ and presented it for discussion at the First All Asia Educational Conference, which was held in Banaras from December 27 to 30, 1930. The conference participants were fully convinced of the advantages of the project. of law and the opinions of Dr. SR Ranganathan. This ‘Model Library Act’ was published by the Madras Library Association during the year 1936. It later amended the bill twice, once in 1957 and again in 1972. This Model Library Act came in the form of bill in the Madras Assembly. in 1933, through Mr. Basher Ahmed Sayeed, a member of the Assembly enthusiastic about the public library system.

The salient features of Dr. SR Ranganathan’s Model Library Act are:-

Except the Kerala Public Libraries Act 1989, all the laws passed in India during the years 1948 to 1990 are influenced by the Model Public Libraries Act drafted by Dr. SR Ranganathan.

Dr. SR Ranganathan made persistent efforts to get library laws passed by various states in India and dreamed of having a land of libraries. He prepared a series of model bills for various states. The following is a list of them:-

He also prepared a Union Library Model Bill in 1948 and redrafted it in 1957.

India got the first Public Library Act through the unremitting efforts of Dr. SR Ranganathan. For the first time, the Public Libraries Act was passed by the Madras Legislature in 1948. There is an interesting story behind the success of the enactment of the Libraries Act on the third attempt in 1946, although the previous two attempts had failed. The first attempt was made by Janab Basher Ahmed Sayeed when he introduced the bill in the Madras Legislature in 1933, but it failed to pass as the Madras Legislature was dissolved in 1935. A second attempt was made in 1938, but later in the Second World War. started and the bill could not be adopted. In 1946, Mr. Avinashalingam Chettiar, a former student of Dr. SR Ranganathan, became the Minister of Education for the state of Madras. One day, Dr. SR Ranganathan took a copy of the Model Library Act and went to meet the Minister at his house after his usual morning walk. The Minister was surprised to see his “Guru” early in the morning and asked her about the purpose of his visit. Dr. SR Ranganathan replied that he came to demand “Gurudakshina” from him. When the Minister promised to offer the same, Dr. SR Ranganathan handed over a copy of the Model Law and expressed his wish that it be enacted into law during his term as Minister. Mr. Avinashalingam Chettiar led the bill and signed it into law in 1948.