Library to mark century with fest

NEW DELHI: It was at Hardayal Municipal Public Library in Chandni Chowk, according to Sarup Singh, its oldest surviving librarian, that Mahatma Gandhi spent hours poring through old books after Independence. The institution reminded everyone of its hoary history on Wednesday when it announced details of the centenary celebrations of the library building from December 9 to 13.
To be called the Delhi Literary Heritage Fest, the event will see cultural events and technical sessions on digitisation of publications.The main session will be chaired by lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung on December 12. Among those invited to participate are Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan, minister of textiles Smriti Irani and MP Meenakshi Lekhi. There will also be musical performances by Babul Supriyo and rock band Indian Ocean as well as a poetry meet.
“The cultural events are meant to attract the youth and make them aware of the heritage and significance of a public institution that is also a space for exchange of ideas and opinion,” said Dr Shobha Vijender, membersecretary of the library. “We are also trying to form a consortium of public libraries from around the country to improve the condition of the infrastructures and books,” she added.
The library began in 1862 and got its own domed building in 1916. It is a repository of 386 manuscripts in Urdu and Hindi and around 8,000 rare books, among them the original prints of Sir Walter Raleigh’s The History of the World (1677), A Voyage Around the World by John Francis Careri (1790) and Satyarth Prakash by Swami Dayanand Saraswati (1875).
With such antiquated treasures, the library is obliged to digitise them for posterity. The process will take around two years. Uniquely, the library uses a traditional method of tying up spices in a piece of cloth instead of chemicals to ward off insects.