India
India
Formal Name: National
Library
Address:
Belvedere, Calcutta, 700027
Phone:
(033) 711381; Tx: 8117.
India has three named national libraries and one collection that is nationwide in scope: National Library, National Medical Library, National Science Library, India Agricultural Research Institute Library, National Archives, National Bibliography.
The National Library of India came into existence in 1948 when the Constituent Assembly passed the Imperial Library (Change of Name) Act. Soon afterward it moved to its 30-acre grounds at Belvedere, the former Viceregal Lodge in southeast Calcutta. It was opened to the public in 1953. It occupies a main building and three other buildings; work on a fifth building started in the late 1980s.
Its predecessor, the Imperial Library, was founded by Lord Curzon, then Viceroy and Governor-General of India, in 1902. It combined the holdings of the Calcutta Public Library (founded 1836) and the Imperial Secretariat Library (1891). Even today the National Library combines the functions of a public library for Calcutta and a permanent repository of all materials produced in or on India. Any Indian citizen aged 18 or older can use its services free of charge. It is one of four legally designated deposit libraries in the country, the others being the Connemara Public Library, Madras; the Central Library, Bombay; and the Delhi Public Library, Delhi.
The National Library had a total of almost 1,950,000 books in 1989, more than 430,000 of them in Indian languages. Its collection included almost 77,500 maps, 3,024 manuscripts, more than 107,000 bound volumes of serials, and 11,000 bound volumes of newspapers. Among its rare items are about 2,500 books in European languages published between the 15th and 18th centuries and another 3,500 rare titles published in India. The Library subscribes to almost 15,000 current serial titles and more than 800 newspapers. In 1987- 88 it received nearly 17,000 books under the Delivery of Books and Newspapers (Public Libraries) Act, purchased 6,700 books, and received about 4, 600 as gifts and 6,100 on exchange. During this year the Reading Room and Reference Division served almost 184,000 users, lent more than 97,000 items, and provided 85,000 more for consultation. Its reading rooms have almost 600 seats for its average of 1,000 daily readers. The Library is open 352 days a vear. Accommodation is available for out-of-town users at the Readers' Hotel.
The Library has published National Library Newsletter since 1983.
It also published several retrospective catalogues of some of its holdings.
In the late 1980s, it began work on computerizing its operations and services.
The Library is under the Department of Culture in the Union Ministry of
Human Resource Development. Its work is divided into three main divisions:
professional, conservation, and administrative. In 1989 the staff numbered
779, including 205 professionals.
The National Medical Library (NML) was established in New Delhi in 1966. Formerly the Central Medical Library, created in 1961 from the Library of the Directorate General of Health Services, it moved in 1971 to its present building on the campus of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. It functions as the focal point for collecting, processing, and disseminating biomedical information. The NML has a collection of more than 250,000 books, serials, technical reports, and nonbook materials, including a rich collection of 19th century medical literature. It receives about 2,300 serial titles annually. Its publications include a bimonthly accession list, Library Bulletin; a fortnightly service, Selective Dissemination of information; a quarterly current awareness service, Chetna; and a quarterly Index to Indian Medical Periodicals. Work was underway in 1991 on the seventh edition of its Union Catalogue of Medical Periodicals in India Libraries. The NML is a national focal point for online access to databases such as MEDLINE. Since 1981 it has played an important role In training medical library professionals working in India and South Asia. The total staff of 87 includes 47 professionals.
The National Science Library was founded in 1964 as part of the Indian National Scientific Documentation Center (INSDOC). It occupies part of the INSDOC building in New Delhi. Its collection numbers some 200,000 items and receives about 5,000 current serials. Of its staff of 45, 32 are professionals.
India Agricultural Research Institute Library
This institution can rightly be called India's national agricultural library, although it is not so designated. Its collection consists of some 300,000 books, serials, and other materials; it receives about 5,000 current serials titles from 90 countries in 40 languages. It maintains a comprehensive collection of indexing and abstracting journals. Its publications include a monthly Bibliography of Indian Agriculture and a monthly press clipping service, Development News in Agriculture.
The National Archives of India emerged from the former Imperial Record Department (founded 1891) when India achieved independence in 1947. In addition to the records of government ministries and departments, it has built a rich collection of the private papers of more than 75 eminent Indians. It publishes a scholarly biannual journal, The Indian Archives, and a quarterly newsletter, Tile Archeion. Its school of archival studies is an important center for training archivists from developing countries. It conducts research on improving and updating preservation techniques.
The Indian National Bibliography has been compiled and published monthly by the Central Reference Library on the grounds of the National Library in Calcutta since 1958. The Central Reference Library also produces Index Indiana, a quarterly index of articles appearing in current periodicals in major Indian languages. The number of titles received per year in the late 1980s was almost 17,000.
World guide to libraries. New York: Saur, 1998.
World encyclopedia of library and information services. 3rd ed.
Chicago: American Library Association,c1993.