E-Paper
Public Library withstands the ravages of time
Withstanding the ravages of time, Public Library situated at Chandra Shekhar Azad Park is one the best architectural monuments in the city. The Library premises is surrounded by plush greenery and it presently has the stock of altogether 89,049 books most of which are rare. The library also has a burgeoning collection of manuscripts.
Withstanding the ravages of time, Public Library situated at Chandra Shekhar Azad Park is one the best architectural monuments in the city.
The Library premises is surrounded by plush greenery and it presently has the stock of altogether 89,049 books most of which are rare. The library also has a burgeoning collection of manuscripts.
The establishment of this library dates back to the year 1864. After the destruction of Agra College library in 1857, the necessity to establish a well- equipped library arose and a provision of Rs 3600 was made for the first time on April 27, 1864 for the establishment of the museum and the library at Allahabad.
The then Lt Governor William Muir laid the foundation stone of this library building on December 1, 1871 and it was christened as 'Thornhill Maynae Memorial Hall' in memory of late CB Thornhill, the member of Board of Revenue and his friend Francis Ottawe Maynae, who had established the "Thornhill Memorial Trust".
The Gothic style of architecture was used in its construction which is famous for its pointed arches and tall thin pillars. The construction of Public Library building was completed in 1878 and Murarilal was appointed as the first librarian.
This building has witnessed some of the most famous historical events such as the first sitting of 'Legislative Council for the North Western Provinces and Awadh' was held here on January 8, 1887 and till 1900 all the sittings of the Council were held in Thornhill Mayane Memorial Hall.
A 26-member managing committee was formed under the chairmanship of Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru in the year 1923 to manage the affairs of Public Library. Besides catering to the needs of ordinary readers, this library had some of the known personalities as its members such as Pandit Motilal Nehru, Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, Sir Sunder Lal, CY Chintamani, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, GB Pant and others.
The centenary celebration function of Public Library held in 1964 was attended by the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.
In 1975, the Public Library was taken over by the State Government and its charge was handed over to Director Higher Education who formed a managing committee to look after the work. The employees working there were amalgamated in State Subordinate Service. The present managing committee was formed in 2002. Here books are available in Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu, Arabic, Persian, Bangla, English, French and German languages. Among its rare collection are Shahnama by Firdausi, Upanishad by Darashikoh, Tareekh in Urdu, etc.
British Parliamentary debates and all the editions of Pioneer newspapers since 1868 are present here.
During its establishment in 1864, there were 13,000 books mostly donated by citizens.
Now about 250 persons visit the library daily.There are plans to computerise the catalogues, maintaining a copy of rare manuscripts with the help of web camera, building the fumigation chamber, etc.
