5-day Capacity Building Programme of National Mission on Libraries (CBP-  NML) starts at PU

Chandigarh, March 17, 2025:

A 5-day Capacity Building Programme of National Mission on Libraries (CBP-NML) in collaboration with Raja Rammohan Rai Library Foundation, Kolkata, under the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India, for Public Library Personnel commenced at Panjab University (PU). The inaugural of the programme, being organised by A.C. Joshi Library from 17th to 21st March 2025, was held at Dr. SSB UICET, Panjab University Auditorium, here today.

Addressing the inaugural function as the Chief Guest, the Director, Research & Development Cell, P.U. Professor Yojna Rawat, said that the capacity building programme will help in empowering library professionals and improving public library services across the country. The Library is deeply grateful to the RRLF for their generous financial support, which has made this event possible, she added.

In his talk, the keynote speaker of the event Prof. Dinesh K. Gupta from Central University of Haryana, linked existence of library science with Vedas and explained five laws and their source of spiritual wisdom from Vedas, Upanishads, Manusmriti, Ramayan, Bhagwad Gita. He stressed that the vital principle- ‘The spirit of the Library’- persisting through all its forms is like the inner man. He also discussed about supremacy of service with analogies from Ramayana. 

PU Registrar, Prof. Y.P. Verma, was the Guest of Honour on the occasion. Prof. Y.P. Verma shared his personal experiences with the Library and also talked about green door to open access, reference management software and ONOS. 

Earlier, Prof. Meenakshi Goyal, University Librarian welcomed the dignitaries and expressed gratitude for sparing their valuable time to grace the occasion. She emphasised that this prestigious programme will enhance the professional skills of public library personnel by equipping them to meet the challenges of the evolving digital landscape. 

Prof. Kuldeep Agnihotri Vice-Chairman, Haryana Sahitya and Sanskriti Academy, who was also Guest of Honour on the occasion discussed about Dr. S.R. Ranganathan who is called father of the Library Science in India, his philosophy and work with special mention to classification system devised by him which is colon classification. 

Dipanjan Chatterjee, Project Officer, National Mission on Libraries gave a brief overview about the capacity building programme. Dr. Jivesh Bansal, Deputy Librarian proposed the vote of thanks.