Sprawling Parliament library is now open for public
The Parliament Library which until recently was accessible only to lawmakers, government functionaries, accredited media persons and research scholars, has opened its collection of 1.7 million publications to the common people.
The Parliament Library which until recently was accessible only to lawmakers, government functionaries, accredited media persons and research scholars, has opened its collection of 1.7 million publications to the common people.
As the library — which is the largest in Delhi and second largest in the country behind the National Library in Kolkata — is housed in tightly secured Parliament Complex, visitors will be granted physical access only after verification of their documents for identification which they have to upload online, according to officials.
Originally located in the Old Secretariat building in Delhi, the library was shifted to the Parliament Complex in 1927. The new Parliament Library building was inaugurated in 2002, when all the collections were moved there.
“Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had decided that as a part of the celebrations of 75 years of Independence, the library should be open to all from August 15. We made all arrangements in this regard. Parliament Library is now open to public,” said a senior official.
Initially, the general public can access the vast resources of the library only for an hour and the slot is likely to increase in the coming days, said officials.
Spread over four floors, the library has a massive collection of fiction and non-fiction books, all central and state government Acts since 1836, 88 newspapers, 365 periodicals, all parliamentary debates from the British-era Central Legislative Assembly, Constituent Assembly and the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha since their beginning.
In a quiet corner of the library building, a room has been dedicated to preserve the two original copies of the Indian Constitution — in Hindi and English — in nitrogen-filled receptacles. Access to the original copies of the Constitution, however, is limited.
The original library was housed in a chamber adjacent to the Central Hall of Parliament. The chamber is now used as a reading room by lawmakers, who often come there to prepare their draft speeches.
The new library also has a dedicated section for MPs. It also has two separate sections on Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.
As part of speaker Birla’s initiative, the library also has collection of books written by Presidents, Vice Presidents, Prime Ministers, Speakers, sitting and former members of parliament.
Over the last few years, the vast resources of the Parliament Library have been digitised and the e-archives were made public on December 11, 2018.
“Its digitized collections range from 1854-2022 having 4.7 million pages of 0.6 million documents. 31.09 lakh (over 3.1 million) visitors have used the website,” said an official statement. “Apart from debates, the website also has digitised parliamentary committee reports, PM speeches, LS publications and Bulletins and Resume of Lok Sabha.”
The Covid-19 pandemic, however, prompted the library authorities to start doorstep delivery of books at the residence of MPs in the National Capital Region.
With the Parliament Library opening for everyone, people can now access a mega library that has a vast collection of parliamentary debates of India as well as British Parliament. Collections of parliamentary debates in England since 1867 and that of the House of the Lords since 1909 are also available in the library.