National Library of India

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National Library of India

The National Library of India is India's largest library by volume. It is located on Belvedere Estate in Alipore, Kolkata, West Bengal, and is part of the Ministry of Culture. Its mission is to collect, preserve, and share printed material produced in India. The library has more than 2.5 million items, including books, journals, newspapers, magazines, sound recordings, patents, maps, stamps, prints, drawings, and manuscripts. Special collections cover at least fifteen languages, with the Hindi collection dating back to the 19th century.

History in brief
- 1836: Founded as the Calcutta Public Library.
- 1903: Became the Imperial Library after merging several secretariat libraries in Calcutta.
- 1910: Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee became president of the Imperial Library Council and donated about 80,000 books.
- 1948: After India’s independence, it was renamed the National Library by the National Library of India Act.
- 1953: Opened to the public on February 1 at the Belvedere Estate.
- 1976: The name was changed to National Library of India.

Building and discoveries
- In 2010, restoration work by the Archaeological Survey of India revealed a hidden ground-floor room of about 1,000 square feet. It was later reported to have been filled with mud to stabilise the building.

Today’s details
- Location: Belvedere Road, Alipore, Kolkata.
- Open hours: 8:00 am to 8:00 pm on working days; 9:30 am to 6:00 pm on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.
- Budget and leadership: About ₹74 crore (roughly US$8.8 million). Director: Ajay Pratap Singh.
- Governance: Under the Government of India, Ministry of Culture.