Surrounded by her beloved books sits Premila Gamage, the first Sri Lankan, to be awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in London (CILIP).
Despite her hectic schedule she is ready to share a good laugh and a kind word even at the end of a busy day. The neat and organized officeroom from the meticulously arranged bookshelf to the elegant furniture and the warm smile of greeting she flashes sums up her friendly and methodical personality. She believes her role as a librarian that requires her to be methodical and organized, has influenced her personal life.
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| Making history: Premila, the first Lankan to receive an honorary Fellowship from CILIP |
“I am proud and happy to be a librarian,” she says.
It was surprising to learn that this librarian soon after completing her Advanced Level examinations worked as an accounts assistant for a firm. However, she had never studied accounts and her calling seemed to be for books. “I have always been a book lover,” she says. An advertisement about a Diploma in Library and Information Science conducted by the University of Kelaniya attracted her attention and she took the plunge and started the course.
“It was not what I expected,” she said, but as she had obtained high marks and giving up half way was certainly not her policy, she decided to go ahead with the course. Thus, started her career in the library field and it is now evident that her perseverance paid off well.
Her path to success was made up of long hours and hard work. She started off as a librarian at the Buddhist and Pali University in 1985. She was the only full time librarian while there was a consultant librarian and two visiting librarians. She also followed a BA external degree simultaneously.
Most people look back to a particular incident that they consider the crossroads in their career. Premila reminisces that the turning point in her career was being chosen to work at the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology in 1990 after being handpicked by its Director, Professor Senaka Bandaranayake.
She remembers with gratitude Professor Bandaranayake who “is eager to help young people and upon recognizing a person’s capabilities motivates and supports them.”
Premila is evidently someone who knows the value of education. She was eager to learn more and decided to study for two postgraduate diplomas. One was in Writership and Communication at the University of Jayewardenepura. The other was in Library and Information Science at the University of Kelaniya. However, here she faced an obstacle. She was not allowed to pursue her studies while working. Here again Professor Bandaranayake intervened and paved the way for her to pursue her studies while working.
By now Premila was quite the master in time management and multi-tasking. Speaking of how she managed to juggle work and studies, she says that she used to go to university in the mornings and come to office after that and work till around 8 p.m.. Her long hours and dedication were not in vain as she who joined as a library assistant, left an acting assistant librarian.
Her connection with the Sri Lanka Library Association (SLLA) began when she completed her three-year diploma. She was invited to the SLLA council by Sumana Jayasuriya who was the president of the institute then and who is also the librarian at the University of Colombo.
In 1997 she joined the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) as the chief librarian. Here Premila was called upon to use all her skills and experiences in developing the library to its present high standard. The library was in need of much development and was not considered important to the institute’s research work. Undaunted Premila set to work developing the library. “I had to start from scratch with an old computer,” she says adding that there were limited resources for her to employ.
The major challenge was convincing the institute that the library was an important source to obtain information. Gradually the institute witnessed the difference and “I now have the full support of my superiors,” she smiles.
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| Opening new vistas: Children at the Mahaldeniya school where a new library will be opened |
Today Information Technology (IT) has spread to all spheres of life and the library field is no exception. Premila believes in letting IT play an important role in the library. Being a librarian is not merely about sitting in a library surrounded with books, she says.
The library at IPS is now the third library in the country to have an online public access catalogue. “In terms of information the library is very big,” Premila enthused adding that she has also developed an intranet and even included full texts and scanned newspaper clippings. The digital library is still on a small scale and they are hoping to expand it. This dynamic lady has helped IPS save money too as the librarians themselves developed the IT system without obtaining outside assistance.
In 1997 Premila started her Master’s in Library and Information Science at the University of Colombo. Here again she had to juggle work and studies and would follow the course in the morning and come to work after that. Her dissertation for her Master’s was not surprisingly on the Usage of Library Software in Sri Lanka.
Following her Master’s Premila has been very much involved with the SLLA. She coordinated the re-introduction of the technical session under the title National Congress on Library and Information Science which is an annual congress of the SLLA. The SLLA gave a conference CD with the registration on the first day of the conference, a move that was highly commended.
The end of 2004 saw the country engulfed by mass destruction and grief as the tsunami waves wreaked havoc along the coast. The SLLA pitched in with their share in the rebuilding process by developing tsunami affected libraries.
Premila served in the SLLA Tsunami committee until 2007. They travelled around, assessed and identified four libraries in Balapitiya, Galle, Batticaloa and Thirukkovil.
They started with their own members and gradually other organizations such as CILIP, International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and Save the Children chipped in. “The work was well organized and we wanted it to continue,” says Premila. She went on to say that as word spread, people visited and with more donors coming forward more libraries were reached out to. They spread to Galle, Rathgama and Andaragasyaya.
When some of the then SLLA council members including SLLA President Upali Yapa, Secretary Mrs. Deepali Talagala, Premila and a few others were on one of their tsunami checks they chanced upon the Andaragasyaya Primary School and decided to develop this school’s library. They are proud that it is now rated the second best library in Hambantota. Two girls from the school were funded by the SLLA to follow a Diploma in Library and Information Science.
Premila Gamage’s long list of achievements comes tagged with a myriad of responsibilities and work. 2005 saw her being appointed as the Secretary to the Asia and Oceania Section of IFLA. She was also the chair of Asia and Oceania, Africa and Latin America and Caribbean Sections from 2007 to 2009. She is the first Sri Lankan to date to be on the governing board of IFLA.
Her zest for learning continues meanwhile. From 2007 to date she is reading for her PhD at the Leeds Metropolitan University!
Little wonder that Premila was awarded an Honorary Fellowship in October 2010 by CILIP at their members’ day in London. She made history being the first Sri Lankan to obtain the Honorary Fellowship.
Amidst the honours and achievements, Premila has not stopped developing libraries. Introduced to a school in a tea estate in Mahaldeniya in the central hills by Professor Jody Miller from the University of Missouri St. Louis, she volunteered to help in building a library. They are helped by Lanka Community Information Institute and Jody in the development of the library. The career development group of CILIP is also helping them by funding the renovation. However, they are in need of more funds. They had just completed the building on a 10 perch land that was donated by the owner of the estate Mr. Rathakrishnan, who is also very interested in developing the community. The library which is constructed on the same land as the school is open to adults too.
“We were hoping to open the library in February but were unable to do so due to the landslides,” explained Premila adding that they are now waiting for the installation of electricity. “We don’t want to build a library and stop at that,” she says, relating enthusiastically the various activities they conducted to introduce the residents to the concept of books and libraries.
Funding for the librarian however poses a problem. Thus they are running a campaign titled ‘sponsor a Librarian’. They have found two people who will sponsor the librarian for two months every year. They need to find more sponsors for the remaining 10 months.
The opening of the library is now hoped to take place at the end of March or beginning of April.
Premila is also actively involved in Building Strong Library Associations (BSLA) which is a project by IFLA funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The project aims to at providing training to strengthen various Library Associations. Premila is currently a co- trainer and she is assigned the Lebanon Library Association. The programme will require her to go abroad as well as work via an online platform. She conducted a workshop in Lebanon in January 2011 and will be conducting more in the near future too.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation conducts a programme, Access To Learning Award (ATLA). This programme selects parties involved in providing ICT to underprivileged people and gives a one million U.S dollars grant to aid the project. Premila is in this advisory committee for two years.
The post of librarian is in high demand today, Premila says happily, adding that “especially with the development of ICT the role and demand of a librarian has increased.” Her parting words are that she was able to achieve all this “because I am a librarian.” |
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