Legacy of Learning in Mysore State: Celebrating the Growth of Library Services and 60 Years of the MyDLIS.
(Please Note: This post is the article published in the ILA Newsletter, May 2026 edition available at https://ilaindia.co.in/media/com_nswnewsletter/newsletter/1778475356_may26.pdf ) In some corners of the world, every few seconds, some country or another bites the dust. Not with the invading army, not with a bang, not by an accident, but quietly – when the knowledge dies without a successor, when the manuscript rots unattended, when the libraries run out of people who cared. This is a story about a kingdom that acted differently, introducing the library service inside the palace and later moving it to the public space. The Princely State of Mysore, which stretched across some 29,000 sq miles of Southern India and today is known as Karnataka State, governing 31 districts, made a series of decisions over the last 150 years by introducing knowledge-based learning, which was the luxury for the few, but was a necessity for all, and is the most consequential in t...