THE NATIONAL LIBRARY
OF INDIA
Take the main gate.
Walk along. As the mighty trees whisper, the road gets strewn
with green and yellow leaves. Crimson flowers welcome the visitors
- students, scholars, researchers or just casual enthusiasts.
It is hard to ignore the beauty, grandeur and elegance of the
place in terms of its look as well as historic importance. Its
appearance is more majestic in winter when seasonal flowers bloom
in the green surroundings. The road leads to broad stairs decorated
with potted flowers of all hues. At the end of the row one finds
oneself in front of the main building of the National Library
of India at Belvedere, Kolkata. This library building is there
since 1948 following the passing of the Imperial Library (Change
of Name) Act, 1948. The Library was formally opened to the public
on February 1, 1953 by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the then Union
Minister of Education. But the actual origin of the library dates
back much earlier.
It started when the
Calcutta Public Library was established on March 21, 1836 with
the combined efforts of Dwarkanath Tagore and Peary Chand Mitra
, though the idea was borrowed from J.H. Stocqueler, editor of
the Englishman. That library was housed at Esplanade Row,
Calcutta. There were several kinds of membership. One could even
become a ‘proprietor’ by paying Rs. 300! A marble bust of the
first ‘Proprietor’ , Dwarkanath Tagore, still stands at the entrance
of the National Library. Anyway, it was clearly a private and
non-official effort,which, however, was not enough to sustain
the ideal of a standard or model library. It was Lord Curzon,
the then Viceroy who helped in converting the Calcutta Public
Library into a truly national institution by merging it with the
remnants of the East India College Library and departmental libraries
to give it a form of the Imperial Library and opened it to the
public on January 30, 1903.
Since then, during
its 100 years of journey the library has changed its location
several times – from Dr. Grant’s residence in the public library
days to Fort William(July, 1841) for a brief period and then to
the historic Metcalfe Hall(1844) and from there on to the Foreign
Office building at Esplanade in 1923. During the war emergency
it was shifted to Jabakusum House in Chittaranjan Avenue in 1941
but was moved back again to Esplanade in 1948 and finally to Belvedere
Estate, which was the former viceregal palace. It was then that
the Impereal Library was converted into a National Library by
the Government of India.
The library is spread
over in three separate buildings with a preservation laboratory.
A separate newspaper reading room is presently at 5 Esplanade
East which once housed the Imperial Library.
The National
Library of India is marching ahead with modernization. A "Bhasa
Bhavan" is being built up with the state-of-the-art techniques
and facilities. The latest techniques are being adopted to preserve
all its invaluable assets.
The library,
the repository of a huge literary wealth, has 25 lakh books and
magazines. Indeed, Lord Curzon’s words ring true today - "…
it would be a library of reference, a working place for students
and a repository of materials for the future historians of India,
in which as far as possible, every work written about India at
any time can be seen and read."(PIB Photo Features)
