Connemara Public Library

The Connemara Public Library at Egmore in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, is one of the four National Depository Libraries which receive a copy of all books, newspapers and periodicals published in India. Established in 1896, the library is a repository of century-old publications, wherein lie some of the most respected works and collections in the history of the country. It also serves as a depository library for the United Nations.[1] It is located in the Government Museum Complex on Pantheon Road, Egmore, which also houses the Government Museum and the National Art Gallery.

    Connemara Public Library
    Entrance of Connemara Public Library
    LocationEgmore, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India., India
    TypePublic library
    Established5 December 1896 (1896-12-05)
    Collection
    Items collectedBooks, academic journals, magazines, Braille books, manuscripts

    History

    The library's beginnings go back to 1860, when Captain Jesse Mitchell set up a small library as part of the Madras Museum[2] in Madras, capital of the Madras Presidency in the British Indian Empire. Hundreds of books had been found to be surplus in the libraries of Haileybury College (where civil servants of the Indian Civil Service were trained in Hertford Heath, Hertfordshire) and these were sent to the Madras Government, which in turn handed them over to the Madras Museum. Conceived on the lines of the British Museum Library, it was part of the Madras Museum until 1890, when the need for a free public library prompted the then Governor of Madras, Lord Connemara, to lay the foundation on 22 March 1890.[3] It opened in 1896 and was named after Lord Connemara (by then the former Governor), an Anglo-Irish nobleman. The library was indeed essentially free: A small deposit had to be paid but this was refundable. It became the state central library in 1948,[2] with the enactment of Madras Public Libraries Act 1948, which was the first concerted effort in India to institutionalise, structure, otherwise, co-ordinate and organise public library services. This is one of the Asia's largest libraries.[4]

    The library was as part of a cultural complex that grew in the grounds of what was once called The Pantheon. The entire complex now boasts buildings that reflect architectural unity, even while demonstrating the various stages of Indo-Saracenic development, from Gothic-neo-Byzantine to Rajput Mughal and Southern Hindu Deccani.[5]

    The new building, which was added to the library in 1973, has a vast collection of books, a much sought-after textbook section, a periodicals hall, a reference room, a video room, an entire floor for books from the Indian languages, a Braille Library and an IAS study centre. Efforts are on to fully computerise the library database, which could ensure easy access to books. The library has a collection of over 600,000 books.

    In 1981 the central government ordered that the library became one of the four national depository libraries.[6] The library, however, is not a registered member of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA).[7]

    Collections

    The library, along with the Madras museum, benefited greatly from the effects of the Madras Literary Society, the Oriental Manuscripts Library and the Records Office.[8] Under the provision of Delivery of Books and Newspapers (Public Libraries) Act 1954, every publisher in India has to compulsorily send a copy of each publication to the library. Apart from this a good number of publications and periodicals of UN and its specialized organs and Asian Development Bank were also received. Furthermore, several books were added every year by purchasing from the funds made available by the state government budget.[9] The collection includes rare books including a 1608 Bible.[10][11]

    Librarians
    Connemara Public Library, c. 1914
    S.No.NamePortraitFromToRemarks
    01Edgar Thurstonalt18961908
    02J. R. Henderson4 December 1908[12]1920
    03F. H. Gravely1920 February1939 April
    04R. Janardhanam1939 April[13]1950First Indian and Trained Librarian
    05K. Govinda Menon19501958
    06K. Rajagopalan19581963
    07V. Thillainayagam196331 July 1972First Professional Librarian
    08A. M. Sundararajan31 July 1972
    09C. K. Sundarajan
    10A. M. Sundararajan
    11N. Avudaiappan
    12P.A. Naresh
    13Dr Dharma Rajendiran19 August 201302 February 2014
    14T Munirathinam03 February 201430 June 2015
    15Sa Suganya01 July 201501 November 2015
    16P. Narayana Bhat02 November 201530 April 2016
    17P. Meenakshisundaram01 May 201630 June 2018
    18S. Rajani02 July 201830 June 2019
    19M. Ganesha01 July 201901 February 2021
    20K. Selvakumar02 February 2021

    See also

    References
    1. Ramakrishnan, T (24 March 2022). "The tale of two libraries". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
    2. Patel, Jashu; Kumar, Krishan (2001). Libraries and Librarianship in India. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-313-29423-5.
    3. "This Chennai Library & Book Lover's Paradise Is One Of India's Best Kept Literary Gems". Mensxp. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
    4. Bhattacharjee, R. (2002). "Public Library Services in India: Systems and Deficiencies". Country Report: India—2002. International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. Archived from the original on 30 March 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
    5. Kanthimathi, L. (31 August 2019). "Heritage building at Connemara library undergoing renovation". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
    6. Taher, Mohamed (1994). Librarianship and library science in India: an outline of historical perspectives. Concepts in communication informatics & librarianship. Vol. 60. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company. p. 97. ISBN 978-81-7022-524-9.
    7. Ramanathan, M. (16–31 May 2010). "A user's view of Connemara Library". Madras Musings. XX (3). Retrieved 1 July 2012.
    8. "Museum, Library and Theatre". Madras Musings. XX (3). 16–31 May 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
    9. "Connemara (State Central) Public Library (Chennai, India)". University of Chicago. 2009. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
    10. Upadhye, Aishwarya (23 April 2018). "Chennai's 'old Connemara library' opens doors on World Book Day". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
    11. "Connemara library displays pages from past". The Times of India. 25 April 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
    12. Order no,162, 4 December 1908; Fort St. George Gazette No.50, 15 December 1908, page 1
    13. Fort St. George Gazette, dated 11 April 1939, page 393

    13°04′14″N 80°15′24″E

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