M. Vijayakumar, a librarian at Pondicherry University, received the Dr. Harish Chandra-Sushila Chandra National Best Librarian Award for 2021 in recognition of his achievements, services, and contributions to the library and information profession. Vijayakumar was given the honour at the Society for the Advancement of Library and Information Science (SALIS) 2022 conference in Tamil Nadu.
Additionally, the Indian Librarian Association and the State of Karnataka presented Vijayakumar with the Best Librarian Award 2020 in 2015. More than 75 of his invited talks have been given, and he has over 90 journal and conference publications and research papers published. For business purposes, he also travelled to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iran, China, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Thailand.
Former employers of Vijayakumar include the Central University of Rajasthan, the Birla Institute of Technology (BITS), the Kuvempu University, the National Aerospace Laboratories, Bukhatir Education Advancement and Management (BEAM)-UAE, and others. The National Best Librarian Award was given to Akhtar Parvez of the Maulana Azad National Urdu University in 2020, and to L Radha of the Thiagarajar College of Engineering in 2022. In March 2002, like-minded librarians founded SALIS as a professional organisation. The main goals were to serve the profession in a need-based manner and to develop library and information science (LIS). In order to reduce the digital divide, SALIS is now focusing on “Reaching the Unreached” LIS professionals in rural settings.
It also pays attention to the working library professionals of Public Libraries, the segment which almost remains as an area of neglect,” reads the official website of SALIS.
