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Calcutta Public Library was established in 1836. It was not a Government institution. It ran on a proprietary basis. Any subscriber paying Rs 300 at one time or in three instalments was considered a proprietor. Poor students and others were allowed to use the library free of charge for a specified period of time. The then Governor General, Lord Metcalf transferred 4,675 volumes from the library of the College of Fort William to the Calcutta Public Library. These volumes and donations of books from individuals formed the nucleus of the library. Dwarkanath Tagore was the first proprietor of Calcutta Public Library. Both Indian and foreign books, especially from Calcutta Public Library had a unique position as the first public library
in this part of the country. Such a tidy and efficiently run library was rare
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The Imperial Library The Imperial Library was founded in 1891 by combining a number of
Secretariat libraries. Of these, the most important and interesting was the
library of the Home Department, which contained many books formerly belonging
to the libraries of
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Amalgamation of CPL and Imperial Library Lord Curzon, Governor General of |
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The new library, called Imperial Library, was formally opened to the public on 30 January 1903 at Metcalf Hall, Kolkata. The aims and objectives of the Imperial Library were well defined in a Notification in the Gazette of India: ‘It is intended that it should be a library of reference, a working place for students and a repository of material 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.’ |
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John Macfarlane, Assistant Librarian of the
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The policy of acquisition broadly adhered to by the Imperial Library was outlined by Lord Curzon in his speech at the inauguration: ‘The general idea of the whole Library is that it should contain all the books that have been written about India in popular tongues, with such additions as are required to make it a good all-round library of standard works of reference.’ From the Imperial Library to the National Library After Check out The Imperial Library (Change of Name) Act, 1948. Website of National Library The first official website of the National Library (www.nlindia.org) was launched on 22 January 2002 at 4.30 p.m by H. E. Sri Viren J. Shah, the then Governor of West Bengal, at the main building. The website was designed by Cyber Animatrix Pvt. Ltd. At the inauguration, H. E. Sri Shah, also released a CD ROM on the activities at the National Library. The occasion was made to co-incide with the birth centenary of Professor Nirmal Kumar Bose, the distinguished anthropologist and freedom fighter. An exhibition of his publications was also organised. |
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List of Directors and Librarians Librarians
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Directors
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Director General
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Formal opening of the National
Library Above: ( L to R ) Dr. B. C. Roy, the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Dr. H.C. Mukherjee, Dr. S. S. Bhatnagar, Prof. Humayun Kabir and Sri B.S. Kesavan. |
The then Prime Minister of India, Late Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation stone of the Annexe building of the Library in May 1961 |
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| The Belvedere Building | The old Annexe |