On July 12, 2021, Dr Ranjan Sinha Thakur was appointed as the Librarian of BITS Pilani. The English Press Club sat down with him to understand his journey up to this point and his vision for the library.
After graduating from the Indian Statistical Institute in 1995, Dr Thakur started his career as a librarian at a steel plant consultancy. Under his supervision, the process of categorising and cataloguing books was automated. He considers this a defining achievement in his career. In 2014, Dr Thakur made the decision to shift to an academic library. The primary reason for this was his desire to work with students and faculty members on publishing research papers. He explained that the transition from a corporate to an academic environment was difficult, and it took him a few months to adjust and fully understand how to guide students.
Dr Thakur spoke about his plan to make three new discussion rooms in the library. He mentioned that he had submitted the proposal to the Institute and the budget allocations would be made shortly. He also talked about how he optimised the library system. Earlier, each book had an individual data entry; this made it cumbersome for students to check if a particular book was available as they would have to scan through a list. Dr Thakur clubbed all the data together so that one book now has one entry with the number of copies available written along with it.
Dr Thakur also implemented an automated renewal system. He felt that since there is a fine for not returning books on time, the process of renewal should be easier and more accessible. Through this system, students are able to renew their books while off-campus. One of the gaps Dr Thakur saw in the library was the limited number of e-books available. He has increased the number of e-books from 3,000 to 215,000. He has also added more than 3,000 new textbooks since July 2021. He mentioned that it is his responsibility to keep adding new textbooks as it is nearly impossible for students to go outside and purchase them. Dr Thakur organised a workshop during APOGEE to help students understand the process of writing a paper. However, he added that the turnout failed to match his expectations.
Understanding the importance of online resources, the old library website was updated. The user interface was completely overhauled and now features access to all e-books and services like the automated renewal system. A library mobile application is also in the works. EBSCO’s delivery services, which help users to search for their institute’s resources easily, will be integrated into the application. Dr Thakur also signed BITS up for Delnet, a document delivery service which provides access to other colleges’ databases.
Dr Thakur’s ultimate vision for the library is to make it better than, if not as good as, those of other premier institutes of India. He claimed that no other library in India has discussion rooms, ideation zones, a makerspace, and a 3D printer room. He said that he had been trying to propose AC rooms, but there had been structural challenges. Camera coverage of the library has also been improved, replacing the old CCTV cameras with internet protocol (IP) cameras.
Concluding the interview, Dr Thakur urged students to consider research projects and publish papers. He promised to keep working to improve the library for everyone.