The Fifth SATKAL Annual Function was Mr. Sushant Banerjee of the British Library, on 5.1.2005 at Art Gallery, Chandigarh. At the outset, Dr. (Mrs.) Devinder Kaur, President of the SATKAL Trust, welcomed the guests and elaborated upon the activities of the Trust during the last four years. The function was inaugurated by Prof. G.S. Randhawa, Former Vice-Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, who obliged the Trust a second time by accepting this invitation. In his inaugural speech he expressed concern over the vacant positions of the librarians in the country and asked the librarians to consolidate their position as they could play a very significant role in the society and system of higher education. The Annual SATKAL lecture was delivered by Mr. P. Jayarajan, Former Head of the Library and Information Services of the British Council of India Delhi on "Library and Information Services in India: Glorious past, Stagnant Past, Uncertain Future". He expressed that librarian should focus their attention on teaching, learning and research. They need to catch up with the time. He lamented that libraries are low on priority. He appreciated the efforts of DELNET for networking in the country. The panel discussion was held on 'Changes in LIS Curriculum' in the afternoon session, and was anchored by Dr. (Mrs.) Devinder Kaur. Other panelists included Dr. H.R. Chopra, Mr. A.R. Sethi, Ms. Ramola and other distinguished librarians of the region.The SATKAL Awards for the year 2004 were presented to the following distinguished professionals:
Punjab Librarian Award : Dr. E. Rama Reddy
University Librarian, Indira, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad.
Woman Librarian Award : Ms Veena Chawla
Director, American Resource Center, New Delhi.
Young Librarian Award : Dr. M.G. Sreekumar
Librarian Indian Institute of Management, Calicut.
The awardees also shared the experience with the audience.Many young librarians, students, members of the British Library, journalists, librarians of colleges and other people from all walks of life attended this function. Mr. Sushant Bannerjee proposed a Vote of Thanks.
