District Library, Howrah

Origin

Howrah is metropolitan city and headquarters of the Howrah district of the Indian State of West Bengal. It is located on the Western bank of the river Hooghly, opposite to Kolkata, which is on the Easter bank. They are collectively known as Greater Kolkata. Both are interconnected by four bridges, namely, Howrah Bridge or Rabindra Setu, Vidyasagar Setu or second Hooghly Bridge, Vivekananda Setu or Bally Bridge and Nivedita Setu or Second Vivekananda Setu.

The name is derived from Hoar, which means alluvial swampy lake. The recorded history dates back to 500 years but the region was inhabited during ancient times also. The area consisted of small scattered villages, Harirah Howrah being one of them. After the battle of Plassey the area was acquired by the East India Company and formed into district towards 1780s.

The library was started in 1952 by the efforts of Howrah District Library Association (HDLA) in a single room of Howrah Duke Library near Howrah Girls College. In 1954, the West Bengal Government allocated a land of 10 kathas near Howrah Maidan for the library and construction of the building was completed by 1956 and the library was shifted to this new building. Since, then the library is offering its services from this building.

The library has been pioneer in spreading library services and literacy in the district since its inception. Its nodal library for the library system in the district with District Library Officer at office here at the helm of library affairs. Apart from distribution of resources it is maintaining service standards in the district through its training programs from the very initial days of its establishment.

Building

The library building was constructed in 1956. It has 3 floors as under,

Ground floor has Librarian's room, office, reading room, stack room and computer lab.

First floor has stack room and children corner.

Second floor has seminar hall and District Library Officer's office. The seminar hall is available to public for literary and related events at a nominal charge of Rs. 1000/3 hours.

Location

The library is located in one of the most densely populated locality of Howrah, near the Howrah Maidan, on the MG Road and is well accessible by public and private transport. The Howrah Maidan bus terminal is just about 150 meters away and Howrah Railway station is just about 1 Kms away. Metro is under construction.

There are MG Roads on both sides of the river Hooghly, which may be confusing. The library is on the Howrah side i.e. western side and not one the eastern side of the river i.e. on MG Road, Kolkata.

Staff

The library has a total of 10 regular positions in different capacities. The staff is inter-transferable with other Government Libraries under Directorate of Library Services only.

The District Library Officer also has his office at the 2nd floor of the library. Though he is not directly associated with the library, he manages the library network in the district.

Collection

The library houses a collection of 86500 + books in Bengali, English and Hindi language, mainly. The collections have been classified using DDC22 scheme and library catalogue and services are being automated using Koha, integrated library management system.

The library also has a collection of about 250 old, out of print, rare books in its reference collection.

The library subscribes to 6 newspapers in 3 languages, English, Bengali and Hindi. The library also subscribes to 79 magazines in English, Bangla and Hindi etc. languages.

Membership

The library has 6669 registered adult members and 923 children members. There is no membership fee, but a refundable security of Rs. 500/- needs to be paid at the time of Ist registration. Membership for children is free.

For becoming member of the library, a membership form needs to be duly filled and deposited along with two recent passport size photographs, an ID proof with local address and refundable security of Rs. 200 in cash.

Each registered member is entitled to borrow 2 books for 15 days at a time. After the expiry of the book return date (due date) a fine at the rate of Rs. 1/day is levied to the defaulters.

Information Technology

The library is being automated with Koha, an Open Source Integrated Library Management System. It has cyber corner with 6 dedicated computers, with internet connectivity for public use. Xerox facility is also available at a rate of Rs. 1/page.

Also the library users/visitors are provided free internet/Wi-Fi.

Working Hours

The library remains closed on gazetted holidays, Sunday, second and fourth Saturdays of the month. The opening hours are 12 noon to 7 pm.

Contact

Howrah District Library,
5/4 MG Road,
Howrah - 1 (WB)-711101.
INDIA.
+91 33 2641 4982
Email: howrahdl@gmail.com
Website: https://www.wbpublibnet.gov.in/node/593