National Library Kolkata

The National Library of India, foremost among the libraries in India, is one of the four designated libraries entitled to receive under the Delivery of Books and Newspapers (Public Libraries) Act, 1954 a copy of every publication published anywhere i 4 a copy of every publication published anywhere in the country. The library is a permanent depository of all reading and printed materials produced in India, or written by any foreigner, wherever published and in whatever language. The origin of the National Library of India is traced to the former Calcutta Public Library, established in the first half of the 19th century. The Calcutta Public Library was established largely at the initiative of Mr. J. H. Stoqueler, the Editor of the Englishman. The library was opened to the public on the 21st March, 1936 on the ground floor in the residence of Dr. F.P. Strong, Civil Surgeon. It was Lord Curzon who first conceived the idea of opening a library for use of the public. He took note of two libraries with rich collections of book - the Imperial Library formed in 1891 by amalgamating a number of Secretariat libraries and the Calcutta Public Library. The Imperial Library (Indentures Validation) Act was passed in 1902 and the reconstituted Imperial Library was formally opened to the public at the Metcalfe Hall on the 30th January, 1903 by Lord Curzon with the intention that it should be a library of reference, a working place for students, and a repository of materials for the future historians of India, in which, so far as possible, every work written about India at any time can be seen and read. The Bengal Government offered the library, from the very beginning the privilege to ask for any book free of cost, received by the Government under the provisions of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867. The first step towards the enlargement of the collection of the Imperial Library through exchange of publications with institutions of foreign countries was taken when the library received 2,333 volumes from the Library of Congress in 1907. In April 1947, the Imperial Library had a total collection of about 3,50,000 volumes. After Independence of India, the NATIONAL LIBRARY of India came into being in place of Imperial Library by the “Imperial Library (Change of Name) Act” in 1948. It was accorded a special status of an institution of national importance in Article 62 in the 7th Schedule of the Union list of the Constitution of India and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the then Union Minister of Education opened the Library to Public on 1st February 1953. ...view more