Being the largest and among the oldest libraries in India , the National Library stands as a symbol of Calcutta’s heritage and Kolkata’s pride .
The national library not only aims to acquire and conserve all significant national production of printed material but also collects printed material concerning the country no matter where it was published and the acquisition of photographic records of such material that is not available within the country.
The purpose with which the library was formed so that the poor students and the others could use it for studying and collecting information for a longer period of time .
The history of The national library began with the formation of the Calcutta Public Library in 1836. Lord Metcalfe , the then Governor General transferred 4675 from the library of the College Of fort William, Calcutta to the Calcutta Public Library . This and donations from individuals formed the nucleus of the library . This made Calcutta Public Library had a unique position as the first public library in this part of the world .
The Metcalfe Hall.
Such a well organized and efficiently run library was rare even in Europe in the first half of the 19th century. And because of these efforts of the Calcutta Public Library , the present National Library has many extremely rare books and journals on its collection.
The National Library Of India stands as not only a symbol of heritage but also as a symbol for our intellectually rich culture. It houses newspapers which were available since the beginning of the 19th century as well as foreign publication. It not only has an extensive collection of global newspapers and periodicals, it also has an extensive collection of maps from 17th century onwards.
Bengal has, through times been tested by various internal and external onslaughts ,political and even domestic violence have been rampant in this part of the country, heritage has been tampered and also destroyed, few have survived the perils of time , National Library is one such witness to stand its ground ,and with it ,beholds a history of Bengal, preserved in its palatial corridors ,in forms of books ,periodicals , manuscripts and newspapers . The national library which has been one of the pioneer institutions of India much to the pride of Bengal.
It not only boasts of the largest collections of books but also of a guardian of a rich history and culture of India, and the rest of the world.
Changes in governments have always has it in their stride to maintain and guard the heritage structure and special care and funds are allotted to safeguard its interests which primarily is to serve the humanity.It has stood the test of time and in all its capabilities the National Library has been able to successfully preserve the intellectual treasures and as yet the preservation has been remarkable.
The National Library was, is and will always be a Jewel in Kolkata’s Crown.
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