JILA was formed in a conference of Library & Information professionals and students of Jharkhand, organized on April 15, 2007 at Shree Raam Mandir Trust Bhawan, Sarjana Chauk, Ranchi. A large number of professionals and students participated in the conference and formation of JILA.

In 2007 (7 Months), three Executive Committee Meeting were held in order to plan the activities of the association, such as, membership drive, registration of JILA, launching of the JILA’s quarterly journal ‘ INFOLIB’ and other LIS related activities.

The Librarians’ Day was celebrated on August 19, 2007 to mark the Birthday of the father of Library Science in India Dr. S.R. Ranganathan at RIMS auditorium, Ranchi. A big number of LIS professionals, students and other interested persons participated in the function. The Chief Guest Sh. Arun Kumar Sinha, Director, Secondary Education, Govt. of Jharkhand appealed to the members of JILA to co-operate actively with the Government in the development of libraries in the state. He also invited the Association to draft the Library Legislation Act for proper development of the public libraries in Jharkhand. He also strongly stressed the need for the Vision for Libraries for at least 10 years in order to strengthen the Library and Information Services in the state. Other speakers also expressed their idea for progress of the Librarianship and Information Services. All were agree that there is a lot of scope in Library and Information Science. On the same day the first AGM was held.

The Members of the Association actively met frequently for drafting the Jharkhand State Public Library Act. Ultimately, the draft took its final shape in the end of 2007.

Prominent figures of different fields were contacted for the support and guidance of the Associations. JILA honoured such two personalities namely Dr. N.N.Agarwal. Director, RIMS, Ranchi and Sh. L.R. Saini, Director, Ranchi Zonal Office, DAV Public Schools, Ranchi with its patronage.

In 2008, eight meetings of the Association’s Executive Committee were held to discuss the action plan for various events to be organized, such as, launching “INFOLIB”, celebration of Ranganathan Day, organization of the National Conference and other LIS activities etc.

A draft “Jharkhand Public Library Legislation Act: A Model” was prepared and submitted by JILA to the Director (Secondary Education), Govt. of Jharkhand in 2008, for consideration and implementation.

Official organ of the Association, a quarterly journal on Library & Information Science named INFOLIB was launched in June, 2008 with a motive to publish quality research papers, reports and other matters on the issues of LIS in a democratic manner.

The Ranganathan Day was observed by the Association in Jamshedpur on , 2008 which was attended by a large number LIS professionals and students. On the day, the emphasis on the collaboration amongst Libraries and Information Centres was discussed. On same Day the second AGM was also organized.

JILA organized the 1st National Conference on “Public Libraries & Information Services: Challenges & Prospects in Jharkhand” held during 13th & 14th September 2008 with assistance from Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation, Kolkata. A good number of delegates from Jharkhand and outside Jharkhand States (West Bengal, Bihar etc.) participated in the conference.

Three meetings of the JILA Executive Committee were held to discuss the plan for activities to be taken in 2009, such as, fresh membership drives (in Ranchi and outside Ranchi), Library awareness programmes, Ranchi University Central Library’s Data- Retro – Conversion works and other activities etc.

The Association completed the ambitious project of the Classification, Data- entry works and Bar- coding works of the books/journals (more than 90,000 titles) of Central Library, Ranchi University, Ranchi in 2009. A good number of JILA members were engaged for the project.

The Librarians’ Day was celebrated at . LIS professionals from different parts of Jharkhand participated the celebration. The third AGM was also organized on the same day.

The Association met the Education Minister of Jharkhand and The Director, Secondary Education, Govt. of Jharkhand in order to create the post of school librarians for the development of libraries at school level.

In 2010 four (04) meetings of JILA Executive Committee were held for planning the 2010- activities, such as, Librarians’ Day, follow ups of the proposal of the post of School Librarians given to the Govt., Library awareness programmes for the general public etc.

The Librarians’ Day was celebrated at RIMS, Ranchi to mark the Birthday of Dr. S.R. Ranganathan on September 19, 2010. A large number of LIS professionals and students attended the celebration. On the occasion the Chief Guest Sh. C.P. Singh, Speaker, Vidhan Sabha, Jharkhand opined that libraries play active role in development of the society and librarians are the responsible persons for managing libraries and information centres. Hence the status of librarians should be upgraded and their dues should be given appropriately.

The Guest of Honour Dr. A.K.Mahato, the Director, RIMS, Ranchi stressed the need for establishment of effective library networks specially in Jharkhand to cope up with the modern information needs of the society. In the presidential address Sh. K.N. Jha highlighted the importance of the Librarians’ Day and the contributions of Dr. S.R.Ranganathan in Library and Information Science.

The JILA secretary Sh. Shiv Prakash discussed the activities of JILA. He also expressed the need for library legislation in Jharkhand and development of school libraries in Jharkhand Govt. Schools. Sh. Sanjay Kumar Karn presented the comprehensive biographical sketch of Dr. S.R.Ranganathan. Sh. Rabin Kumar and Sh. Neeraj Kumar depicted the status of libraries in Jharkhand. Dr. Bhaskar Karn described the changing face of the modern libraries. The Vote of thanks was expressed by Sh. Rajesh Karmahe. The programme was compared by Sh. Pradeep Kumar. On the same day, fourth AGM was also organized.

The Members of JILA met the HRD officials to pursue the matter of the post of School Librarians in Jharkhand Govt. Schools on the line of CBSE- affiliated schools and the State Library Legislation Act, time to time.

In 2011, four meetings of JILA Executive Committee were held to plan various activities in the current year, such as, National Seminar on ‘ The relevance of Dr. S.R.Ranganathan in present scenario’- cum – Librarians’ Day, Workshop on KOHA : an open library management software and other LIS programmes etc.

JILA in association with DELNET, New Delhi and BIT, Mesra, Ranchi organized one-day workshop on Open Source Software KOHA on April 21, 2011 at BIT, Mesra, Ranchi. A good number of LIS professionals and students participated in the workshop with great zeal and interest.

On September 4, 2011 JILA in collaboration with Indian Association of Special Libraries & Information Centres (IASLIC), Kolkata, organized the Librarians’ Day- cum- One-Day National Seminar on “ Relevance of Dr. S. R. Ranganathan in present scenario” to mark the Birthday of Padmashree Dr. S.R. Ranganathan. The Chief Guest Smt. Mamata, Director, Secondary Education, Govt. of Jharkhand expressed her view on the importance of libraries and appealed all the professionals to provide the library and information services for betterment of the society.

The Guest of Honour Dr. K.K. Sinha, HOD, Deptt. Of Biochemistry, RIMS, Ranchi praised the activities of JILA and wished for future assignments. The JILA Secretary Sh. Shiv Prakash highlighted the life and works of Dr. S.R. Ranganathan, & activities of the association and also discussed the future plans of JILA.

The theme of the seminar was introduced by Dr. Bhaskar Karn. There were seven(07) papers presented in the seminar. A large number of library and information professionals and students across the country(Jharkhand and outside) participated in the programme.