National Library of India

From ArticleWorld

The National Library of India is the most famous and largest library in India located at Kolkata. It is governed by the Department of Culture, Ministry of Tourism & Culture, Government of India. The library is designated to collect, disseminate & preserve the printed material produced in India. The library is situated on a 30 acre land at Belvedere East in Kolkata city. National Library of India was formed after the merger of “Calcutta Public Library” with the “Imperial Library”.

The Calcutta Public Library

The Calcutta Public Library was established in the year 1836. It was a non-government institution which was run on “proprietary” basis. Individuals contributing Rs.300 as subscription became the “proprietor”. Prince Dwarkanath Tagore was the first proprietor of this library. The core of the library was formed with donations of many books by individuals. Lord Metcalf, the Governor General at that time, transferred 4675 volumes of books from the College of Fort William, Kolkata. Donations were regularly made by individuals as well as the government for adding new books of Indian as well as foreign origins to the library. This library has the distinct position of being the first library in this part of the world.

The Imperial Library

In 1891, the Imperial Library was established after a number of secretariat libraries had been combined together. The library of the Home Department was the most important & interesting part of this library as it had many books belonging to the libraries of the East India College, Fort William & the Library of the East India Board in London.

Earlier, the use of these libraries was restricted to the superior officers of the government. In 1903, Lord Curzon of Kedleston, the Governor General of India, conceived the idea of opening the library for the use of the general public. He decided to amalgamate the rich collection of both of the libraries (Calcutta Public Library and the Imperial Library). On 30th Jan.1903, the new amalgamated library called as the Imperial Library was formally opened to the public at Metcalf Hall, Kolkata.

Largest collections

After the independence of India, the government changed the name of the Imperial Library as the National Library. The whole collection was shifted from the Esplanade to the present Belvedere Estate. On 1st of Feb 1953, the National Library was opened to the public. The Library consists of 22,70,000 books, more than 86,000 maps, 3,200 manuscripts, more than 550 reading rooms and a staggering 45 km. shelf space.