Education for librarianship in Bangladesh

Abstract

Education is a social process by which a society and a nation impart and transmit knowledge on life and society. According to the International Encyclopedia of Social Sciences “instruction is a basic activity of mankind” and “education can be viewed as including all communicating of knowledge and shaping of values”.1 Formal education is acquired by organized study and instruction at educational institutions. The objectives of such education are to acquire skills, knowledge, habits and attitudes. As society is gradually transformed by modernization balanced emphasis is given both to liberal as well as specialized education. One very important branch of this specialized education is the professional education which prepares a particular human being for specific profession or job. The rapid and unprecedented expansion of knowledge in the modern technological society has produced a heavy demand on the organizer and disseminator of knowledge who are popularly known as librarians and information scientists. The expertise of librarianship can be only achieved through a methodical and systematic professional education of administration, planning, selection, procurement, preservation, storing, disseminating and interpreting the means of human communication. “Libraries have been the store-house of man’s boldest thoughts, his highest aspirations, his wisdom, knowledge and art since the time of the earliest civilization. The book whether made of clay, papyrus, parchment or paper has always kept thought alive, kindling new ideas even in periods of apparent cultural stagnation.“2 In other words, “the basic responsibility of libraries has been to