Empowering Library Users through the Five Laws of Library Science.

The library is instrumental to societal progress by providing reading and learning resources which enrich the user's mental vision and dignifies his habit, character, taste, attitude and perception of life. However, it does not seem obvious to some librarians that there are certain practice principles upon which modern library operations are anchored. The paper identifies invention of writing and printing from movable type as the two major epochs that brought about the library and its subsequent development respectively. It discusses the S.R. Ranganathan's five laws of library science as the practice principles upon which library operations can be deduced and through which the library has positively impacted on society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]