Abstract

India's National Library traces its origins to the Calcutta Public Library, which was opened in 1836 and amalgamated with the Imperial Library in 1903. It receives all material published in India. Its four main groups of activity are Collection Building and Collection Organization, Readers' Service, Conservation of Library Materials, and Administration. These activities are carried out by numerous divisions, of which the subject and language divisions function like individual small libraries, responsible for acquisition, processing and specialized reference services. Some stock is available for loan. There is a small Children's Library. The Conservation Wing has Preservation, Laboratory and Reprography Divisions. An extensive automation programme has started fairly recently; first applications will be for acquisitions and cataloguing. Future projects include the production of a National Union Catalogue, the collection of better statistics of Indian book production, and the acquisition of microforms to fill important lacunae in the collection. Plans for a new six-storey building have been approved.

Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call