Bharatha Desiya Granthalyam : Oru Avalokanam

(National Library of India: An Evaluation) The study opines that a National Library should be responsible for acquiring and conserving copies of all documents that originated in the country as well as all documents about the country produced elsewhere. It should act as reliable and authentic bibliographical information centre on the above mandatory areas. National library's collection and services should also be organized in such a way that the people throughout the length and breadth of the country can use it without any difficulty through service outlets near their residence. The National Library of India (NLI) is evaluated on the basis of the above specified objectives. It is observed that the NLI is not fulfilling even the above basic functions. It is building up huge collections without a specified plan. Developing a reliable collection with the whole universe of knowledge as its area of coverage is impracticable for a developing country with limited financial resources and is also a diversion from the objectives National Library. NLI should limit its collection to documents from and on India. Even for that purpose it need not be one that duplicates all documents available in other libraries in the country; but it can entrust building up national collections of specific areas to specialized libraries in the country concerned with that area. Together they should form the National Library System. A national library need not be a single physical entity located at a place. It can be a group of libraries, if the existing condition of the country so requires. India being a federal country with language based States the study advices regional centres specializing in documents produced in the region as well as in the concerned language in each State. NLI should specialize in some common areas/languages as well as coordinate and control the regional activities to together form an integrated whole. The NLI, which is maintained by very huge expense from the county’s national budget, remains one, which is useful to only very few persons mostly belonging to Calcutta where it stands and its surroundings. The library’s set up does not consider the 99% of our population as coming under its expected users. India’s national library should not be allowed to continue as such any more. The study recommends decentralization of NLI subject/region/language wise as well as establishment of a National Public Library Network and extending service through it to the whole country to make it useful and easily accessible to all the citizens of India including those living in remote villages