Evaluation of Public Libraries in India: the case of Karnataka

Abstract

This article describes the development of the public library system in the state of Karnataka, India, several exercises in its evaluation during the mid-1990s, and the current direction of its planning. After outlining the system in the rural district of Chickmagalur, it concentrates on the system in the city of Bangalore, the state capital and India’s ‘Silicon Valley’. Quantitative and qualitative survey data portray the demographics of library clientele, their information needs, their rating of library materials, facilities and personnel, and the relationship between their evaluations and the preliminary stages of automation. Analysis focuses on issues of age, gender, trajectories of career development, and the rural–urban divide in determining the future planning of the system.