Sir,
I arrived in Kathmandu in the fall of 1972 as a U.S. Fulbright librarian, assigned to Tribhuvan University Library in Kirtipur for 9 months. I worked with the Mishras, Shanti, the director, and Narayan, the assistant director. In the U.S., I was the director of the Barnard College Library at Columbia University in New York City.
To my surprise, I found there a large collection of books in English in a modern library structure, organized as American libraries that I was familiar with.
Initially, I worked to help make the cataloguing of materials more efficient. It was easy to work because Shanti and Narayan had an enlightened vision of how such a library could help faculty and students.
I returned again for a short-term Fulbright in the fall of 1980 after I had served 13 years as the Barnard College Library director. I think my award of the Fulbright to Nepal in 1972 caused me to be entered in “Who’s Who in America” in 1973.
My stays in Nepal resulted in not only a lifelong admiration of the country in general with its fascinating culture but also for the farsightedness of the Mishras concerning the library’s and university’s impact on the nation.
I continue to be informed by the fine essays by Narayan Mishra, whose wide-ranging concerns touch the core of many problems today in Nepal. His call to attention to many problems is reassuring. I hope he continues his thoughtful writing.
Possibly because of my two working visits to Nepal, I was chosen to be the first Fulbright librarian in China in 1984-’85. I appeared in the 1984-’85 edition of “Who’s Who in the World”.
Robert B. Palmer
190 Riverside Drive
Apt. 10B
New York, 10024
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