Sprawling Balbharati library in Pune is now open for public

The Balbharati library belonging to the Maharashtra State Textbook Production and Curriculum Research Board , which until recently was accessible only to experts, the board of studies and the concerned text book bureau, has opened its collection of 1,55,000 books to the public

The Balbharati library belonging to the Maharashtra State Textbook Production and Curriculum Research Board , which until recently was accessible only to experts, the board of studies and the concerned text book bureau, has opened its collection of 1,55,000 books to the public. The library will now be open to the public from 10.30 am to 1.30 pm and 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm except on weekends and public holidays.

The Balbharati library at Senapati Bapat road. (HT PHOTO)

Balbharati director Krishna Kumar Patil said, “The library was open to public in 1967, however, was later pertained only to researchers and experts related to board of studies. Now we have opened this library as a reference cell for public to come and browse the various titles and books. We even have textbooks from 1820’s which are quite interesting.”

The library, situated in the Balbharati premises at Senapati Bapat road, has a vast collection of 1,55,000 books and textbooks in Marathi, English, Hindi, Gujarati, Kannada, Sindhi, Telugu and Urdu languages; various reference books, fine literature, glossary, encyclopedia, geographical encyclopedia, maps, among others. Also, the library has a collection of national and international periodicals, textbooks from other states, educational and literary journals and their volumes, as well as many rare books.

Pune has 1,000 libraries with 90 libraries and reading rooms in the city registered with Pune district library. This library will help students to exchange ideas. To attract more such readers to the library, Balbharati is charging a fee of ₹20 per day.

The purpose of the library was mainly to provide reference material for the courses prepared in the textbook circles, for research and for limited study by teachers and textbook lovers.