Library, literally meaning house of books, is backbone of any educational institution. It is impossible to imagine a college without library. Often, the size of the collection is used as an indicator of academic quality. But have you ever thought what library can contribute to students learning..?
The famous dialogue of Aamir Khan from 3 idiots “Seek excellence and Success will follow” teaches us that success is just a by-product created while working for excellence. However has anyone given a thought how can excellence be achieved..? Excellence is far away if you are far from the Knowledge Mansion aka Library. It plays a very important role on one’s path towards excellence.
NEED FOR LIBRARY:
A good modern library usually subscribes to almost all important newspapers and periodicals, which is impossible for a middle class family. In this way a library renders a great service not only to students but to the society also. The best feature of a library is that it either makes no charge upon the readers or collects a negligible membership fee for making available to them newspapers and journals. This fact is immensely helpful to the ill-paid and poor members of society who, notwithstanding their poverty, are interested in the political, social and religious developments reported by newspapers.
STRUCTURE OF LIBRARY:
A library is maintained by a librarian who keeps a track of all books being issued and returned and an assistant who helps us to access any book we need. There are mainly two sections in library viz. LENDING SECTION and REFERENCE SECTION. Any member can issue books from lending section. Reference section is open to non-members also. Books from this section can’t be issued. However books from this section can be used to take down notes. In addition to this there is one more section called THE STUDY ROOM, where students can study in calm and quite environment. This section is very useful for students.
In this era of digitalisation, where internet has become main source of knowledge and “Google it” has become most used word as a substitute of library; iPad’s, PDA’s and e-book readers are on increase. However libraries have updated themselves introducing the concept of DIGITAL LIBRARY. Where collections are stored in digital formats and are accessible via computers. The digital content may be stored locally, or accessed remotely via computer networks.
Largest Library in India
(Courtesy : The Colours of India, Largest Library in India)
The National Library in Kolkata is the largest library in India. It is an institution of National importance under the Department of Culture, Ministry of Tourism & Culture, Government of India. National Library is situated on a scenic 30 acres Belvedere Estate, in Kolkata. The library is designated to collect, disseminate and preserve the printed material produced in the country.
The origins of the National Library can be traced back to 1836 when the Calcutta Public Library was established. The then Governor General, Lord Metcalf transferred 4,675 volumes from the library of the College of Fort William to the Calcutta Public Library. In 1891, the Imperial Library was formed by combining a number of Secretariat libraries. Lord Curzon, the then Governor General of India, conceived the idea of opening a library for the use of the public. He amalgamated Calcutta Public Library with the Imperial Library. The library was formally opened to the public on 30th January 1903 at Metcalf Hall, Kolkata. After independence, the library was renamed as the National Library.
Ankit Shah's Blog 