Books
Librarian Extraordinaire
by MELISSA A. CHADWICKThe manila folder that holds the mementos from Joginder Singh's career is filled with reminders of his many days in library services. Days that saw him advance to library director at one of the busiest American libraries in the world.
On the wall in his Gaithersburg house in Maryland, USA, is a holiday greeting card from the fourth successor to Singh's post at the American Resource Center in New Delhi, India, where he served for 32 years before retiring from the United States Information Service in 1983 and immigrating to the U.S. shortly after. He became a U.S. citizen in 1991.
In May, Singh will have a new memento to add to his manila folder: the certificate he will receive from the Maryland Library Association when he is recognized as its 2006 Outstanding Volunteer of the Year.
Maria Pedak-Kari, manager of the Germantown Library, and Catherine Matthews, director of the Upcounty Regional Services Center, nominated Singh for the award.
‘‘I'm just a simple librarian," Singh, 81, remembers saying about two months ago when he learned he was selected for the honor.
Singh began volunteering with school and public libraries almost immediately after arriving in Montgomery County from New Delhi in 1985.
Singh has been a vocal presence in the upcounty for 12 years, as a member of the Upcounty Citizens Advisory Board from 1999 to 2005 and the County's Library Board from 1994 to 2000, serving as its President for two years.
‘‘He's a champion of the library system and has been an advocate in the county circle for a very long time," said Matthews, who met Singh while he served on the advisory board. ‘‘He consistently kept on the table the need for more libraries and for adequate funding for staffing and materials."
Following his term on the Library Board, he served on the Germantown Library Action Committee, four years as chairman.
Love for his profession and community service made him a strong advocate for the libraries, urging officials at both the county and state level to provide more funding.
‘‘Every time the state delegation would come, for six years, I would ask if the schools are getting funding, why can't the libraries? ... We support the students, too," Singh said.
He continues to urge renovations at county libraries, additional staffing at the new Germantown Library and the construction of the Clarksburg Library.
‘‘Mr. Singh has led Montgomery County's public libraries on the path of excellence and modeled citizen participation in governance by volunteering thousands of hours where he shared his experience, his thoughtfulness but most of all his deep love of the American public library service tradition," Pedak-Kari wrote in her nomination letter.
But before he immigrated to the United States with his wife of nearly 61 years, Surjan Kaur, he had a long and successful career with the United States Information Service, now the Department of State.
In 1951, he was recruited from the Delhi Public Library to join the American Library Center in New Delhi. Singh earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees while working full time, and eventually became Chief Library Director, a post he held for 10 years.
‘‘Ours was the top library in the [U.S. foreign] system", Singh said. ‘‘It had the most circulation and the most reference inquiries." The closest competition was the American Library in Mexico, he said.
When he started working at the library in 1951, it was a ‘‘reading room" of 6,000 books. Eventually, it developed into a full-circulation library, with thousands of volumes and hundreds of periodicals.
During his tenure, the library expanded its outreach through book promotions, discussions and presentations. Several prominent figures, including then Ambassador Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru visited the library.
In 1983, the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi recognized Singh for his service.
‘‘Dedicated professionalism has been the hallmark of Joginder Singh's directorship of the New Delhi Library. ... In recognition of a long and distinguished career in helping to make the New Delhi Library an institution that enjoys an unequaled reputation for excellence throughout Northern India," the citation reads.
In 2004, Singh established the ‘‘Joginder Singh Scholarship for Excellence in Library Science" through the Delhi Library Association. The scholarship benefits ‘‘a needy but at the same time academically deserving student in the library science course," he said.
He also knows all about moving to a new library building, like the move the Germantown Library staff is expected to complete in early March. Singh assisted with and oversaw three library moves.
‘‘I had to, like Maria is doing now, watch how the books are being moved and placed on the shelves," he said.
Singh, who still advocates and volunteers at the Germantown Library, said there is still work to be done countywide. The county ‘‘must have another library in the Shady Grove area and Clarksburg needs to be completed as quickly as possible."
As for Germantown, more staff and security personnel are needed to properly oversee a building with entrances and exits on two floors, he said.
‘‘I'm very pleased as a librarian and a library advocate that we will soon have this library," Singh said. ‘‘It's not only going to be a building with walls and doors and windows. It's going to be a temple of learning. I truly believe the library is going to be embraced by the Germantown community."
To be an effective volunteer
Joginder Singh's advice on community activism:
1. Be persistent.
2. Be consistent.
3. Be insistent.
‘‘If you have those three things in you, you can get things done," he said.
Article: courtesy - http://www.gazette.net/
Photo: courtesy - Meredith Suniewick