Delhi Public Library: striving to be truly modern

The sixty years old Delhi Public Library is now revamping its infrastructure and changing with the needs of the modern society. The idea is to make it a place where anybody can come, read and gain knowledge. Shailaja Chandra, chairman, Delhi Public Library shares the insights in a tête-à-tête with Varsha Verma.
Shailaja Chandra

Shailaja Chandra

Delhi Public Library is an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Tourism & Culture, started as a UNESCO project in the year 1951 by the Govt. of India. The library is well stocked with collection of over 14 lakh books in Hindi, English, Urdu, Punjabi & other Indian Languages- almost all subjects are represented in its collection.

So, what are the readership trends in the Delhi Public Library? “Today, younger generation aspiring for jobs or career, in the age group of 20-35 years, who doesn’t have the freedom of a room to themselves to study, use the libraries for their studies. Sometimes, it is a challenge for us to accommodate them along with other visitors to the library. Another important trend we have seen is that visitors like to use internet at libraries for browsing and searching. They find it much better than the cyber cafes,” told Shailaja Chandra, chairman, DLB, Delhi Public Library.

Besides, the Delhi Public Library also offers DVDs, which is a big hit amongst visitors as they can rent DVDs virtually free, just by depositing a security fee. “Not only this, we have digitized forty rare gramophone records which are not available anywhere. The library has over 4,000 such records including classical, devotional, film music, etc. Visitors can use headphone and hear their favourite numbers at the kiosks in libraries.”

When everybody is talking of ebooks, can Delhi Public Library be far behind? “We are also planning to have ebooks in our library. It will help us to know the reading preferences. For example, readers can browse through our website and read little content of a particular book. If ten or more people like the book and would like to read it, we may purchase the same for our library. As of now, we have book committees who decide which books to buy for the library. Sometimes, we might not do justice to all the books as it is not possible to read every book but with this concept in place, we can have a better judgmental call on the books to buy,” added Shailaja.

“Also we are planning to buy kindles for our libraries where visitors can browse through the books on it and if they like the concept, we might add more in near future,” she told.

So, doesn’t the large bookstores with cafes a competition to the libraries? “Well, the concept of library is very different from the bookstores. Book stores are there to sell books while we are just a facilitator to general public. Our clientele is different. They come here to read books as they are not able to buy these,” she replied.

The Library has already revamped its Old Delhi branch and is now busy revamping the Sarojini Nagar one. “We will have kiosks for coffee etc in corridors to facilitate users. Then, there would be open reading areas where people can sit and read the books, which would be specially appreciated in sunny winter days,” told Shailaja.

“We are also planning to provide vocational guidance to students as to what are the new courses available, what books are available for them, etc. Besides, there will be a publishers’ corner where the publishers can display their books for a week or two. They can organize reading sessions by their authors. Sometimes, we can have a few publishers displaying books subjectwise. People can come and see the books and buy them if they wish so,” revealed Shailaja.

Not only this, Delhi Public Library is also planning some events in evening, where street children can learn some skills while other visitors can opt for some hobby classes or English fluency course for a nominal or no cost. “We have already got the Board’s approval for that,” told Shailaja.

When all other libraries are going in for digitization, what is Delhi Public Library’s take on it? “The library is keen to go digital but the Board is not very enthusiastic about it. They feel that most of the book at our libraries are easily available and hence do not need to be digitized. As it is, it is a public library and not a reference library. But, we may soon start a programme to selectively digitize the books,” replied Shailaja.

With all such modernization plans in place, the Delhi Public Library is geared to attract more visitors. “The membership of our libraries had come down to 40,000 but in the last two years, we have added 20,000 new members, which is an achievement in itself and we are sure we will add up more as our new infrastructure is ready,” told Shailaja.

“This is our 60th year of existence and we are promoting our library as a place relevant in today’s time. We are organizing events and exhibitions in various parts of Delhi. A display was hosted at Lalit Kala Academy and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) to showcase the library’s role as an institution that provides the public with information and insights into India’s policy, society and culture. More such events will be planned from time to time to make people aware of our offerings,” concluded Shailaja.