The trip generated some ideas about possible future research steps. One aspect of the NKC recommendations was a focus on making libraries more effective "community-based information systems." This concept was also echoed in many of the statements of my interviewees. While this concept had some consensus, it remained fairly vague and general. In an effort to explore this concept further, I have proposed doing a case study within the Bangalore region. This case study would assess the community information service models of particular libraries in this region and would provide some insights into the roles of the state and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the development of public and community libraries. The role of public and community libraries in social development in India is relatively unexplored; part of this project would probe this area further, as well as potential links between a new library movement and wider social movements in the country. I have applied for a couple of grants to fund the project and will find out by early April about the results.
This most recent trip to India was focused mainly on exploring the feasibility of this proposed study. I also met some of my contacts and friends from the January - March 2008 trip. During my stay in Bangalore, I met with some people involved with NGOs doing library development as well as democratic advocacy work. These organizations include Dream a Dream, which focuses on after-school programs primarily for slum children; Hippocampus, which runs and develops programs for libraries, mainly in government schools and in marginalized communities; the Akshara Foundation, which also runs school and community libraries; the Infosys Foundation, the charity arm of the Infosys Corporation, a prominent business process outsourcing firm in India; and Janaagraha, a civic advocacy group pushing for more responsive local government in Bangalore. These meetings were all productive and gave me a lot of food for thought in developing further lines of inquiry in this research study.
In addition to meetings with NGOs, I gave six talks at various conferences/seminars and research institutes. These talks all gave me chances to reflect on my India library research, as well as on some work I have been doing that is exploring ideologies and power dynamics of the "information society." My talks at the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) in Chennai and the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC) in Bangalore, in particular, were highly useful in providing feedback for the design of my study exploring the role of Indian public/community libraries in a wider social development context.
