Like most laws, they look simple until you think about them. Can you think of some implications of S.R.Ranganathan's laws for information organization and retrieval, for library automation, for service planning, for collections development....? Try using Marshall McLuhan's technique of 'pushing a statement about a medium to its limits'. Look for corollaries. If books are for use, what happens to unused books? Don't get trapped by the generic terms -- a book may be in print, or it may be digital.

1. Books are for use.

2. For every reader, his or her book.

3. For every book, its reader.

4. Save the time of the reader.

5. A library is a growing organism.

Disclaimers.