Community Information Services through Public Libraries and Information Centres: an experience in West Bengal, India

Abstract

Public Libraries that are existed with the basic role of providing access and preserving the recorded knowledge of past and present for future use, these are also responsible for providing required information to the community which help people in daily problem solving or in raising the quality of their lives. Community Information Services (CIS) is one through which a public library provides community information to surrounding community. The paper highlights the present role of public libraries and community information centres on CIS. This paper also discusses ablut community Library cum Information Centres (CLICS) in West Bengal implemented in 1999. This paper also discusses the role of cooperation in facilitating community information services (CIS) through public libraries. It presents in short the theoretical aspect of CIS.