Application of Geographic Information System (GIS) in Identifying Libraries in the Districts of West Bengal

Abstract

Geographic Information System (GIS) is a technology that represents spatial data in an enhanced manner for utilisation in human resource development. This study aims to identify the location of different libraries using ArcGIS and also determine the library health of the districts of West Bengal. Location maps have been prepared showing the location of government libraries, government sponsored libraries, aided libraries, century old libraries and other important libraries in the districts ofWest Bengal. A choropleth map has been prepared using the ratio between the total number of libraries in each district and the existing literate
population of the same district (derived from Census of India, 2011) to depict the library health of that district.Ahigher ratio value signifies that a greater number of the population depends on the services provided by a limited number of libraries which highlights the poor library health of that district and vice versa. It has been found that Kolkata, Alipurduar and Kalimpong have
the lowest library population ratio indicating a very good library health of these districts. However, the situation is very serious in terms of library health in Jalpaiguri, Paschim Bardhaman, East Midnapore, West Midnapore and Bankura where only a few libraries are located to be accessed by a considerably large number of literate population. Therefore, this study recommends increasing the existing number of libraries by constructing new libraries in these districts, so that the people can properly access the library services.