Libraries evolve to cater to Kolkata’s reading culture – Times of India

By: Aheli Banerjee
KOLKATA: The first week of February usually sees two major festivals of knowledge: Saraswati Puja and Kolkata Book Fair. But has been relegated to a shadowed corner in the learning space is the library. Librarians, the keepers of books and knowledge, pointed out the changing role of libraries and the rich reading tradition of Kolkata.
The most famous of them in the city is National Library of India, which was founded in 1836 as Calcutta Public Library. Spread over the 30-acre Belvedere estate, it houses India’s largest collection of public records with over 2.2 million books and archived records. “We must define libraries not only as places to study but also as cultural spaces for preserving history, cultural revival and as intellectual meeting grounds. We celebrated Founder’s Day on February 1 with a series of lectures and have initiated several outreach programmes. But we are concerned about conservation, includoing book binding, restoration of damaged books and digital reproduction,” said Partha Sarathi Das, assistant library and information officer.
Kolkata is also home to multiple obscure libraries with illustrious histories dating back over a hundred years. Established in 1882, Taltala Public Library is the oldest functioning public library in the city. “The library stores over 50,000 books in Bengali and English. The biggest problem is with moisture due to humidity and bookworms. We do our best to spray insect repellents but the problems return. There have been attempts to digitalize the old and rare books with the help of government representatives but the projects never really took off,” said the library’s president, Shankar Nath. “Nowadays, libraries like ours are visited mostly by research scholars only.”
Sajal Mitra, executive member of Rammohan Library, founded in 1904, said older libraries here not only maintained their sanctity as a space of learning but also had hybrid cultural functions now. “We have a free reading room, an auditorium, a separate space with study books and a museum dedicated to Rammohan Roy,” he said. As part of Roy’s 250th birth anniversary, Mitra shared plans of publication of his reprinted works and several online events.
The West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) has also helped organise events to inspire young readers. WBTC last year set up a boat library and a tram library before that. WBTC MD Rajanvir Singh Kapur said, “The idea is to allow readers enjoy their books with a view. It was the world’s first library on trams and the boat library helped introduce kids to the Hooghly’s beauty.”
About the digital initiatives, content writer and MPhil scholar Ipshita Chakraborty said, “The online library at British Council has audiobooks, e-books, magazines and self-development training resources. Digital libraries help enhance the reader’s access.” Assistant professor at Centre for Distance and Online Education, RBU, Aritra Basu said, “I visit Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture at Golpark for research. They have created digital catalogues of their book lists and are working towards archiving old books in need for restoration.”