List of Largest Libraries in India

What is Library?

• A library is a collection of sources of information and similar resources, made accessible to a defined community for reference or borrowing. It provides physical or digital access to material, and maybe a physical building or room, or a virtual space, or both.
• Library buildings often provide quiet areas for studying, as well as common areas for group study and collaboration, and may provide public facilities for access to their electronic resources; for instance – computers and access to the Internet.
• In this Article, we will learn about the List of 10 Largest Libraries in India.

 

Types of Libraries

1.  Academic libraries – located on college and university campuses and primarily serve the students and faculty of that and other academic institutions.

2. Children’s libraries – special collections of books intended for juvenile readers and usually kept in separate rooms of general public libraries.

3. National libraries – a national repository of information, and has the right of legal deposit, which is a legal requirement that publishers in the country need to deposit a copy of each publication with the library. Their collections include numerous rare, valuable, or significant works.

4.  Public lending libraries – A public library provides services to the general public.

5. Reference libraries – They does not lend books and other items; instead, they can only be read at the library itself. Typically, such libraries are used for research purposes.

6. Research libraries – A research library is a collection of materials on one or more subjects. A research library supports scholarly or scientific research and will generally include primary as well as secondary sources.

7. Digital libraries – Digital libraries are libraries that house digital resources. They are defined as an organization and not a service that provide access to digital works, have a preservation responsibility to provide future access to materials, and provides these items easily and affordably.

List of Largest Libraries in India

Following are the List of 10 Largest Libraries in India –

The National Library of India, Kolkata

·  It is the largest library in the country by volume and India’s library of public record

·  It was established in the year 1836

·  It houses 26,41,615 books along with other periodicals, maps, manuscripts etc

·  It is spread in an area of 30-acres

·  It was opened to public on February 1, 1953

 

Delhi Public Library, Delhi

·  It was started as a UNESCO project in the year 1951 by the Govt. of India

·  It is the busiest Public Library in South Asia

·  It has a collection of about 18 lakh books in Hindi, English, Urdu, Punjabi & other Indian Languages- almost all subjects are represented in its collection

·  The Library is also the 4th recipient library under the provision of Delivery of Books & Newspaper (Public Libraries) Act 1954.

·  It has a total of 36 wings and the library also has newspaper archives, vintage photographs, magazines, and DVD collections of Hollywood, Bollywood and children’s films.

Saraswathi Mahal Library or Tanjore Maharaja Serfoji’s Sarasvati Mahal Library, Tamil Nadu

·  It was established in the 16th century.

·  It is housed within the campus of Thanjavur Palace and had started as a royal library for the Nayak Kings of Thanjavur

·  It has a rare collection of palm leaf manuscript in various regional languages of India

·  It came under the possession of the state of Tamil Nadu in the year 1918.

·  It houses more than 35,000 manuscripts in Indian languages like Sanskrit, Tamil, and Telegu.

·  In the year 1998, the library installed computers to computerise library activities

·  The library preserves all the manuscripts in the form of microfilms

Anna Centenary Library, Chennai, Tamil Nadu

·  It was inaugurated on September 15, 2010. library is dedicated to ‘ANNA’ or the former CM of Tamil Nadu (the 1960s), Dr C. N Annadurai.

·  The total built up area of this centralised air-conditioned library is 3.75 lakh sq. ft., which encompasses ground and eight floors

·  It has a collection of 5 lakh books

·  It also has a Braille section to cater to the needs of the blind readers

·  It has a huge Conference Hall that can facilitate 150 members

Krishnadas Shama Central Library, Goa

·  It was established on September 15, 1832 by Viceroy Dom Manuel de Portugal e Castro as ‘Publica Livraria.’

·  The status of Library was raised to that of a National Library on February 15, 1897

·  It has more than 1.8 lakh books in different languages

·  The total pre-liberation collection is over 40,000 volumes

Allahabad Public Library, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh

·  Allahabad Public Library or Thornhill Mayne Memoria, the largest public library in Uttar Pradesh, located at Chandrashekhar Azad Park in Prayagraj, Allahabad.

·  It was constructed in 1864.

·  It has a collection of about 1.25 lakh books on various subjects

·  It has rare Arabic manuscripts along with papers of Parliament

Smt. Hansa Mehta Library, Baroda, Gujarat

·  It was established on May 1, 1950

·  The total built up area of the Library is 80,025 sq. ft

·  It has a single largest Reading Room of 10,600 sq. ft. which can accommodate about 1100 readers at a time

·  It has an impressive collection of rare books that include books as old as those dated back to sixteenth century

·  Approximately 3,500 books are preserved in this precious collection, which comprises some noteworthy titles, which are out of Print

Connemara Public Library, Chennai, Tamil Nadu

·  Its foundation was laid on March 22, 1890, by the Governor of Madras, Lord Connemara from which the library derived its name.

·  The library was opened in 1896 and now it is one of Asia’s largest libraries.

·  It is one of the four National Depository Libraries, which receive a copy of all books, newspapers and periodicals published in India

·  It serves as a depository library for the UN

State Central Library, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

·  It was established in the year 1829 A.D.

·  The affairs of the library were overlooked by Col. Cadogan who was the grandson of the founder of the British Museum, Sir Hans Sloane.

·  The State Central Library in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala was also referred to as the “Trivandrum People’s Library”.

·  It was declared the State Central Library of Kerala in 1958.

·  It has a total collection of 3,67,243 documents in different languages such as English, Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Sanskrit in various disciplines

·  The library subscribes to 27 dailies and 215 journals including foreign journals

State Central Library, Hyderabad

·  State Central Library in Hyderabad, Telangana was built by Nawab Imad-ul-Mulk in 1891.

·  It was formerly known as Asafia State Library.

·  It has an impressive collection of 5,01,861 books, covers an area of 72,247 sq. yds.

·  It also has a collection of about 17,000 rare and valuable manuscripts dating back to 5th and 6th centuries

 

 

So, this is all about the List of Largest Libraries in India & Their Location. If you want to read more notes on General Knowledge – Click Here.

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