(Pakistan News & Features Services)
As some people say many great things happens by chance. So was the case of birth or rather rebirth of Karachi Library Association (KLA). It was during an informal conference call between four like-minded visionaries, three of them career librarians and the fourth one a library activist, when the word KLA was mentioned for the first time during the second week of August 2023.
Muhammad Younus Hashmi, now having relocated in Canada after serving the technical library of the national flag-carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), for more than four decades, floated the idea of creating a platform by the name of KLA to carry out activities to boost the community of librarians.
The goodwill and endeavours of the quartet helped in turning the dream into reality much more quickly than anticipated. Syed Munawwar Ali, Nasir Mustafa, Bushra Roohi, Prof Amir Subhani, Wajid Ali Chandio, Rehana Sadiq, Ali Asghar Dars and Farzana Zafar, eight more librarians of eminence, sharing the burning desire to make things happen, got together on the historic day of August 25 as the ‘dedicated dozen’ joined hands formally by declaring the formation of KLA with a bang. A new star was born. The date is now set to be celebrated as Foundation Day of KLA in the years to come.
Historically there used to be an organization by the identical name of KLA, established soon after the creation of Pakistan. They contributed their bit before receding into background. Therefore, technically it could also be described as rebirth of the first-ever library body of the country. Birth or rebirth, the newly launched KLA seems to be having the energy as well as resources to bring about revolution of sorts. The founder members of new KLA possess the drive and determination to sail through rough tides in order to achieve their objectives.
