Page 56 - DLIS101_LIBRARY_AND_INFORMATION_SOCIETY

Unit 5: Types of Library and their Function in Indian Context

The threats to this sector of librarianship are obvious, especially where company bottom lines take Notes
priority over virtually everything else. It is not easy to gauge the true value of a library to a business,
and, to many accountants, anything that cannot be valued in purely monetary terms has no value.

5.2 National Library

The National library is located at the Belvedere Estate very near to the Alipore Zoo in Kolkata. The
National library of Kolkata is the largest library in India. The National library was the residence of
the former Lieutenant Governor of Bengal.

The library at present contains almost 2 million books and half a million documents.
The National library of Kolkata is considered to be the institution of national importance under the
‘Department of Culture, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Government of India’. The National
library or ‘Jatiya Granthagar’ in Belvedere Bhawan was shifted in 1953 on 1st February and opened
to public.
The National library of Kolkata has separate Indian language division for the following languages:
• Assamese • Bengali
• Gujarati • Hindi
• Kannada • Kashmiri
• Malayalam • Marathi
• Oriya • Punjabi
• Sanskrit • Sindhi
• Tamil • Telugu
• Urdu
National library in Kolkata is visited by more than 18000 readers. The collection of the National
library in Kolkata comprises about 20,00,000 books and 5,00,000 manuscripts. Its gigantic campus
spreads around 130 acres of land. The Kolkata National library today is the 2nd largest public library
in Asia. The eminent donors of the National library of Kolkata are Sadar-Ud-ddin, the Zaminder of
Buhor, Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee, Surendra Nath Sen and more. The National library of Kolkata
stocks all major Indian newspapers. The historians can get the richest collection of newspapers and
periodicals that dates back to the 19th and 20th centuries. The National library is the store house of
rare collection of books, valuable manuscripts of the pre-British period, the original letters and
notes of famous personalities and more.

The National Library was the residence of former Lieutenant Governor of Bengal.
The Imperial Library was formed in 1891 by combining a number of Secretariat libraries in Calcutta.
Of those, the most important and interesting was the library of the Home Department, which
contained many books formerly belonging to the library of East India College, Fort William and the
library of the East India Board in London. But the use of the library was restricted to the superior
officers of the Government.

Briefly discuss the history of National Library.

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 51