S. R. Ranganathan, considered by librarians all over India to be the father of library science, proposed five laws of library science. Most librarians accept them as the foundations of their philosophy:

1. Books are for use.
2. Every reader has his or her book.
3. Every book has its reader.
4. Save the time of the reader.
5. The library is a growing organism.

The laws have been widely quoted in the profession.