Prof Dr Ghani-ul-Akram Sabzwari’s demise marks end of an era in Pakistan librarianship

By Syed Khalid Mahmood 

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Prof Dr Ghani-ul-Akram Sabzwari, one of the founding fathers of library science in Pakistan, is no more. According to the sources, quoting his family, he breathed his last in the United States of America (USA) on August 8 at the age of 90. 

His demise marks the end of an era in Pakistan librarianship. He made monumental contribution in the country’s academic history as a pioneering scholar, educator, and visionary. He was credited to have dedicated more than six decades to structure and professionalize the landscape of Library and Information Science (LIS) in Pakistan. 

Prof Dr Ghani-ul-Akram Sabzwari had served as a key early faculty member before becoming Chairman of the Department of Library and Information Science at the University of Karachi, where he succeeded in shaping the careers of multiple generations of librarians. 

He founded the Library Promotion Bureau (LPB) at Karachi in August 1966. The bureau, which celebrated its golden jubilee with fanfare in 2016, appeared to have lost its momentum soon afterwards. The LPB published Urdu-language textbooks on library science besides providing resources to researchers. 

He had launched the Pakistan Library Bulletin in 1968 which was later renamed as the Pakistan Library & Information Science Journal (PLISJ). It became an internationally recognized journal which was also approved by the Higher Education Commission (HEC). He served as its Chief Editor for more than 50 years. 

Prof Dr Ghani-ul-Akram Sabzwari authored and compiled dozens of standard textbooks, directories, and professional guides. His highly cited early works included the Pakistan Book Trade Directory of 1966 and Who's Who in Librarianship in Pakistan whose first edition was published in 1969. 

Upon retirement from the long stint of service in Saudi Arabia, he had relocated in USA but he had made it a point to visit Pakistan every year. Unlike the majority of his contemporaries, he had lost none of his zeal or passion even in his advanced age as he frequently travelled to various cities to receive first-hand information about the profession of librarianship. 

Hailed as a man of character, Prof Dr Ghani-ul-Akram Sabzwari will be greatly missed and the vacuum he has left may be impossible to fill. Sadly, the LPB and the PLISJ, the two entities which were very to his heart, are unlikely to last in his non-presence.