The 20th convention of MANLIBNET, a joint initiative of KIIT Deemed-to-be-University and Management Libraries Network was inaugurated at the varsity campus on Thursday. The three-day-long event’s theme is “Libraries of the future: Emerging Trends’’.

Virtually inaugurating the event, National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) chairman professor Bhushan Pattabardhan said: “Libraries must utilise the modern IT tools to make them future-ready and the librarians must prepare themselves for the challenge.

“They should also bank on more creative ideas to make the libraries “places of attraction’’ so that the users would be interested to join in and be part of the knowledge-gaining experience.’’

Speaking on the occasion, Vice-Chancellor Prof. Sasmitarani Samanta of KIIT Deemed-to-be-University said: “The libraries must utilise the best of the technologies so that more and more readers would come to the temples of knowledge and in this process, the librarians have a crucial role to play.’’

Saying that the Central Library of the KIIT Deemed-to-be University has emerged as one of the best libraries in India, she also called upon other institutions to build quality libraries so that students would spend more time among the books.

Conference director Professor B Ramesh Babu, who is also the former HoD of Library Science Department in Madras University, said: “As the reading habit is gradually declining in the present-day population, we must retrospect to add more creative ideas to attract more and more readers from all age groups.’’

MANLIBNET general secretary and librarian of Hyderabad-based Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Dr Akhtar Parvez called upon a sea change in the attitude of the librarians to be more and more creative and attract visitors to the libraries of the future.

Director KIIT University Libraries Dr Bijaylaxmi Routray, delivered the inaugural speech, while librarian Dr Dillip Swain gave the vote of thanks.

On this occasion, the MANLIBNET Best Creative Librarian Award for 2020 went to Dr Bijaylaxmi Routray, 2021 to Dr Akhtar Hussain, and 2022 to Dr Dhabal Ben Bhatt.