The Public Library Movement

‘Library movement is a struggle for library development.” Public Library Movement in India has been project of our National awaking like the Swadesi Movement. It was also the product of our cultural renaissance and the revival of our love for our culture and culture and heritage. The first Public Library was started for this purpose in 1886. The Gandhian movement made the public library movement an indispensable necessity to the people and became the spring board or the successful organization of the independence movement. Library movement is a saga of organized growth and development of libraries entailing the details of establishment, maintenance and functioning of libraries in a geographical proximity. BEFORE INDEPENDENCE ‘The the past

‘Gradually at Calcutta and other Presidency towns the need for public libraries was felt to recreate reading. As a result, the public libraries of the Dalphian Society in 1811, the Madras Library in 1815, the Calcutta Library Society in 1818, the Bombay General Library in 1930, and the Calcutta Public in 1835 came into existence. These were established by the active support and initiation of Europeans. But the uses of these libraries were limited to a few individuals belonging to higher strata in the society. Therefore, they cannot be called public libraries in the fullest sense. Nevertheless, the library movement received a great impetus in Bengal with the establishment of a good number of libraries from 1851 onwards.” The Madras Public Library was established in 1860 by Jesse Mitchel. In 1896 it was named as ‘Connemara Public Library’, after the name of Lord Connemara, the Governor of Madras during

‘The Maharaja calls W. A. Borden from America for organizing the library system of the state. He organized library training classes, started a journal named Library Miscellany, established the State Central Library with separate wings for women and children. In about 20 years almost all towns and about 1,100 villages had libraries of their own.’ Like this in this way the modern Public Library movement in India is said to have begun in Baroda during the first decade of the century. ‘The subscription library started at the Fort Williams in 1770 was later on converted into a public library in the early 19th century. A few public libraries started appearing sporadically here and there during the same period in the country.’ Notable among them are: The Aarsha Granthalayam, Waltair, United services Library, Poona, Raghunandan Library, Puriand Bombay General Library. These were followed by those started in Cochin, Ernakulam, Trichur and Nasik. Mr. J.H.Stocqual drafted a scheme for the establishment of a public library in