A National Collaborate Plan for the Development of Libraries in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The essential feature of any good library system in any country is cooperation and collaboration. ‘Library collaboration is an umbrella term for the wide spectrum of cooperative processes and mechanism’. Concept of collaboration is brotherly and sisterly love or at least partnership abound. There are three major forms of activities connected with library collaboration. Firstly, in terms of ‘exchange’ secondly by ‘coalition’ (working together) and thirdly ‘entrepreneurial and one way marketing’. As a developing country like Sri Lanka should have a national collaboration plan for the development of libraries under the one umbrella. The ‘Mahinda Chinthana-Vision of future’, printouts main objective of the Sri Lanka is to transform into a strategically important economic centre of the world. Using our strategic geographical location effectively, it will develop our motherland as a naval, Aviation, Commercial, energy and Knowledge hub, serving as a key link between the east and the West. According to above mentioned vision will be able to achieved by batter use of information and knowledge in the country. According to the Statistics of the National Library and Documentation Services Board, there are more than 6,557 libraries in Sri Lanka. These libraries can be categorized into the following nine basic types:National library (1),Academic libraries (15),Special libraries (67),Public libraries (928),Departmental (34),School (4831),Piriven (615),Training collages (32) and Technical collages (34).But they work under the several government and non-government bodies. Main objective of the research is to identification of current situation of library collaboration and to develop a collaboration model for libraries in Sri Lanka. Other objectives of the research are; to study the existing status of library collaboration in Sri Lanka, to examine the collaboration programmes available in the south East Asian counties, to explain the issues and problems related to library collaboration in Sri Lanka, to design a national plan with the aim of improving library collaboration in Sri Lanka. Methodology followed in this study was survey and functional method. Stratified sampling method is used to select library sample for the research. 12 academic libraries(including university, Technical collages, Schools, Pirivens) and 30 special libraries (including national Library) and 10 main public libraries (Colombo, Kandy, Galle) as sample. Systematic sampling method is used to select users among the user population in above mentioned libraries in Sri Lanka. Primary data revealed that above mentioned libraries work under the several governmental, non-governmental or personal institutions. As an example, school libraries are under the ministry of education and special libraries are under their own cooperate bodies (i.e. Lake house library is under the lake house newspaper limited). However, above all types of libraries purchase library materials, maintain card or computer catalogues, classify materials, provide library services, recruit library staff, train them, provide user education programmes etc. without single collaboration plan even between one types of library. As a result of isolation from each other spend more money and waste time ineffectively.