Facilities                 Established     Administration & Staffing
      Membership & Services                       Collection & Computers
 
 

Facilities: The National Library of India is located in Belvedere House, an impressive and large structure built  by the British and formerly serving as the Viceregal Palace. The library buildings are surrounded by the grounds of the former estate, which cover approximately 30 acres.  The main reading room is housed in the former ballroom of the palace. Pillared second floor galleries overlook this large and elegant space. (Unfortunately, taking of photographs within the library was not allowed). Currently there are three large annexes. With the main building, the library occupies approximately 400,000 sq. ft. (Source: Banerjee, D.N., Information Brochure). A new five storey library building is under construction on the estate grounds. Slated for completion in 2002, this building will occupy 450,00 sq.ft. and operations of the library will shift from Belvedere House to a new, modern building, designed with needs of technology in mind.

Established: The origins of the library go back to 1836 with the opening of the Calcutta Public Library, which merged with the Imperial Library in 1903. The Imperial Library Act of 1948 established the new National Library of India, which was also the year that the library moved to its present location, with the vacating of Belvedere House by the British. An excellent overview of the history of libraries in India and projections for the future was provided by Kalpana Dasgupta, of the Central Secretariat Library of New Delhi, and presented at the International Federation of Library Associations 66th conference in Jerusalem (online in INFLANET).

 

Administraton & Staffing: Director:  A.R. Bandyopadhyay. Appointed in 1998. The library's staff numbers 535.  There are 250 professional positions; 45% of these are vacant due to budget cuts.  (Source: interview with Public Services director).

Membership & Services:

• The library's primary function is as a repository and conservator of printed material produced in India and of materials about India produced in foreign countries. (Source: Banerjee, D.N., Information Brochure).
• Production of bibliographical records and standardization of cataloguing procedures is also a mandate of the library.
• Interlibrary loan services are provided when required for serious academic research (often from outside of India) or for government agencies.
• There are approximately 200,000  "visitor members."  Visiting memberships are freely available to residents of Calcutta and surrounding area, upon completion of an application form. These members may use the library's facilities and the collection, but do not have borrowing privileges.

Sample single-day visitor's pass

Borrower's cards are also available, which allow the cardholder to borrow up to two books at a time, subject to certain conditions (e.g. the book may not be an out-of-print edition, or be an Indian publication more than 15 years old). A security deposit must also be paid, dependent upon the value of the book, for each book borrowed. There are approximately 40,000 registered borrowers.  The library is open every day except for the three national holidays of India, from 0900 to 1800 Monday to Friday and 0930 to 1800 on Saturdays, Sundays and other holidays. Approximately 1,000 people visit and use the library everyday, including large numbers of students from the nearby University of Allipore. One of the library annexes (the residence of a former Library Director) has become a book preservation facility, where old books and historical documents are treated and repaired. A datascan project is also underway: pages of old and brittle texts are scanned and stored on CD-ROMs.

 

Collection & Computers: Statistical data:  Books:          approx.        2,700,000 Serials:                                    660,000 Manuscripts                              3,300 Microforms                              96,000 Maps & Atlases                       85,000 Photographs                          121,500 Government documents   472,000  (Source: "Facts and figures at a glance as on 31.3.1999).

• The total collection numbers more than 3 million items plus an additional 6 million copies of back issues of serials and pamphlets.
• There is 32 running miles of shelf space in all the library buildings. (Source: "Facts and figures at a glance as on 31.3.1999).
• About 1.5 million items are stored in the basement of the main library (in the former servants' quarters); the balance of materials are in reading rooms available for browsing (7-10,000 books) or stored in the annexes.
• To order books from storage, request slips must be completed. On the average, a request takes between 20 to 40 minutes to fill; a maximum of three requests may be made at one time. Requested books may be held for users at the circulation desk, if they so wish, for a maximum of seven days.
• Approximately 30-40,000 acquisitions are made annually. (Source: interview with Public Services director).
• There is a small audio-visual collection and a small library to serve local children.
• The library has a large,impressive and priceless rare book section, housing approximately 10,000 books and manuscripts. These are kept in climatically-controlled vaults. Illuminated gold leaf, richly-decorated Sanskrit manuscripts dating from the 16th and 17th century form part of this collection. The oldest book is Pliny's Natural History, published in 1481, but 12th century palm leaf manuscripts are the oldest documents held.
• The collection is accessed primarily through card catalogues, although electronic records also exist for acquisitions since 1992. ISIS software is the library management software used. Research scholars may scan this database on request.
• The library's computing centre is located in one of the annexes. There are four terminals in the centre, with one computer linked in the main building. Because of its age, wiring for technology in Belvedere House has proved impossible. Major expansion of automated services is planned for the new library building.
• Staff may do perform Internet searches for academic research, but such requests must be approved by the administration.