Syed Villayat Husain (1910–1974)
Popularly known as Shah Sahib, he will always be remembered for his activities from the platform of the Pakistan Library Association, the Pakistan Bibliographical Working Group, and the Karachi Library Association. In fact, he was associated with all three organizations for more than a quarter of a century, beginning in 1949 until his last breath in 1974 at Peshawar, where he was supervising a national survey on reading habits for the Pakistan Library Association.
Shah Sahib was born in Lahore in 1910. He received his B.A. from the University of the Punjab in 1934, and obtained his certificate in Library Science from the University of the Punjab in 1938. What made him choose librarianship was never disclosed by him. His first professional appointment was as librarian of St.StephenCollege, Delhi from 1939 to 1945. From 1945 to 1950 he was the librarian of S.M. College, Karachi. He was the librarian of the British Council, Karachi between 1950 and 1953. In 1953 he joined the Government of Pakistan as the founding librarian of the Liaquat National Library. He was promoted to be Assistant Director of Libraries, Government of Pakistan in 1958, a post he held until his retirement in 1964. He was also associated with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.
Popularly known as Shah Sahib, he will always be remembered for his activities from the platform of the Pakistan Library Association, the Pakistan Bibliographical Working Group, and the Karachi Library Association. In fact, he was associated with all three organizations for more than a quarter of a century, beginning in 1949 until his last breath in 1974 at Peshawar, where he was supervising a national survey on reading habits for the Pakistan Library Association.
Shah Sahib was born in Lahore in 1910. He received his B.A. from the University of the Punjab in 1934, and obtained his certificate in Library Science from the University of the Punjab in 1938. What made him choose librarianship was never disclosed by him. His first professional appointment was as librarian of St.StephenCollege, Delhi from 1939 to 1945. From 1945 to 1950 he was the librarian of S.M. College, Karachi. He was the librarian of the British Council, Karachi between 1950 and 1953. In 1953 he joined the Government of Pakistan as the founding librarian of the Liaquat National Library. He was promoted to be Assistant Director of Libraries, Government of Pakistan in 1958, a post he held until his retirement in 1964. He was also associated with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.