Role of public libraries in the national movement in Kerala

Raman Nair, R. Role of public libraries in the national movement in Kerala., 1994 . In International Congress on Kerala Studies, Trivandrum (India), 27-29, August 1994. [Conference paper]

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English abstract

High degree of participation by all classes of people at various levels was the distinctive feature of national movement in Kerala. This was made possible by the wide public library network that existed in the region. In Kerala the national movement evolved from a series of movements. Most of them were geared up by groups of people connected to library movement. The village libraries acted as discussion forums for the common man by extending the reach of the regional press, regularly conducting classes on political and social aspects, and organizing cultural and literary programmes. By following a participatory governing system the libraries trained the people in democratic form of government also. With the libraries enabling the emergence and marshaling of peoples’ opinion, all classes of people in Kerala exhibited a high degree of political and social consciousness. The rural libraries thus helped the national movement go far beyond its original elite intellectual confines. The entry of the masses into active political life, which they facilitated, helped the quick elimination of princely states in Kerala, and establishment of parliamentary democracy based on universal franchise. The class character of the national movement in Kerala was more or less based on the proletarian characters and that aspect was responsible for bringing leftists into political power for which contribution of the village libraries was unique. [Extended abstract and full paper available in archive]

Item type:	Conference paper
Keywords:	India Kerala Public Village Libraries National Freedom Movement
Subjects:	B. Information use and sociology of information > BA. Use and impact of information. E. Publishing and legal issues. > EF. Censorship. E. Publishing and legal issues. > EA. Mass media. D. Libraries as physical collections. > DC. Public libraries.
Depositing user:	R. Raman Nair
Date deposited:	08 Aug 2006
Last modified:	02 Oct 2014 12:04
URI:	http://hdl.handle.net/10760/7921

References

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