When you think of librarians, do you think of old men and women poring over books in dilapidated buildings on the verge of collapse? Think again. In fact, many young men and women today are looking forward to becoming librarians.

Swapna Banerjee, senior lecturer, University of Calcutta, says, “Those who have a masters degree in library and information science can look forward to a good future.” A similar assessment of librarianship is offered by Chaitali Dorta, professor, Jadavpur University, who says that the job potential of those who are studying library and information science remains higher than for students of many other subjects. “Those who have a degree in library and information science can find corporate jobs easily, especially in the IT sector,” she says.

Poor infrastructure, lack of revenue, budget constraints and the computerisation of a job that used to require only manual labour in the past, have been criticised by some current librarians. R.K. Saha, president, Bengal Library Association, an organisation of volunteers that tries to convince pressure groups and decision-makers to support libraries, says that West Bengal needs more libraries. There is also little public awareness of what library and information science students can do in organisations other than libraries. “Every corporation needs an information centre and library”, says Dorta.

Many think that the study of library and information science should not be abandoned in the current age. Saha says, “Students of the subject can develop information consciousness in society and resolve information management problems.” Swapna Banerjee holds the same opinion. She says, “Information is very important. Competence is needed to give that information and to re-package it.” Students are trained to “serve the needs of today’s information-dependent society”, adds Dorta.

Current students learn how to process acquired books, journals, newspapers, microfilms, compact discs, digital video discs and other resources, classify them, protect them from decay, store them and issue them in public and private libraries, and corporate organisations. They also use new technology to design digital storage space for all kinds of information and enable easy access to that information. Very little space is required to store digital information and the cost of maintenance is low. “On one database, we have stored 7,500 full-text online journals,” says Sushanta Banerjee, director, American Information Resource Center, Calcutta, which offers access to a large digital library.

The simplest training in the subject at the operational level is provided by organisations such as the Bengal Library Association that offer certificate courses to those who have passed Plus Two. To receive training both in the operational as well as the planning aspects of library and information science, one has to enrol in a degree course in the subject. For this, one has to be an honours graduate in any subject. An admission test is required by some institutions. The masters degree course can be taken by those who have the bachelors degree in library and information science. Researchers can seek degrees such as the MPhil and the PhD. Distance learning schools such as the Netaji Subhas Open University also offer librarianship courses. All degree programmes now offer training in the use of software applications and in software programming.

Starting salaries for those with a degree in library and information science range from Rs 4,500 (for junior library assistants) to Rs 14,000-15,000 (for information officers in the corporate world). To succeed in this profession, “one should have a combination of knowledge of library science, that is traditional knowledge of classification, cataloguing, etc. and marketing and public relations skills,” says Sushanta Banerjee. One must be “devoted to public service”, says Bhubaneswar Chakravorti, who retired recently as a professor from the University of Calcutta. Those who are interested in building and maintaining physical as well as digital means of information storage and access can look forward to the future with optimism.