KIIT - Journal of Library and Information Management Vol. 9, No. 2, July-December 2022: 49-57 DOI : 10.5958/2455-8060.2021.00003.3 Assistant Professor, Department of Library and Information Science, Rani Channamma University, Belagavi, Vidya Sangama, P B R H - 4, Karnataka-591156, India Email id: rameshkuri.rcu@gmail.com IndianJournals.com A product of Diva Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. Indianjournals.com 49 An Investigation of Library Automation Status in Private Aided Colleges of Belagavi, Karnataka Ramesh Kuri Submitted: 20-02-2022; Revised: 25-05-2022; Accepted: 05-06-2022 ABSTRACT This paper unfolds the status and problems of library automation in aided degree colleges of Belagavi district, Karnataka. The study reveals that 83% of libraries are automated and the remaining libraries are not found to be automated owing to inadequate staff, lack of infrastructure, insufficient funds, lack of training among professional staff etc. This study also depicts the status of the software packages used by libraries and modules used in library automation software. The study finds that out of a total of 24 college libraries, 15(75%) libraries are using proprietary software ‘e-Lib’. The lack of funds for improvements, and lack of facility to implement the improvised software versions are identified as major post automation issues. Keywords: Library automation, Private aided college, Belagavi library, ICT infrastructure INTRODUCTION The library is an important component of any educational institution that provides the right opportunity to the students, teachers and research scholars to explore the vast resources of printed and electronic resources in the forms of e-books, e-articles, e-these and dissertation to meet their academic and research information needs (Das and Chatterjee, 2015). In this regard, automation of libraries plays a crucial role in redesigning and revamping the systems and services of libraries by investing in the procurement of appropriate hardware and software, training of library professionals and in some cases recruitment of new staff (Malik, 1996). Since the 1960s, libraries have undergone for adoption of modern technologies in practice of librarianship for performing various technical services tasks (Saffady, 1989). It has become crucial for enhancing library infrastructure in terms of its building, spaces, provision of adequate number of computers, internet connectivity and WiFi facilities (Samanta et al., 2021). The impact of automation is felt all around because of prompt, effective and comprehensive management of library systems and services, information consolidation and repackaging, retrieval of information activities and management of electronic resources as well (Murthy and Cholin, 2003; Husain and Ansari, 2007; Thompson and Pwadura, 2014). Therefore, it is quite essential to study the library automation status of different institutions. Taking the extant literature into the purview of research, this research explores the status of automation in private aided colleges of Belagavi, Karnataka which has not yet been explored.