Delhi Public Library is a national

depository library Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their publications to a repository, usually a library. The number of copies required varies from country to country. Typically, the national library is the primary reposit ...

in the Indian Union Territory of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

. The library has 37 branches across the state. Delhi Public Library

History

The library was established on 27 October 1951 as a pilot project sponsored by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

and the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

. The library project dates back to 1944, when Shri

Ramkrishna Dalmia Dalmia Bharat Group, (DBG) is an Indian conglomerate company, which trace their origin to the businesses established by ''Ramkrishna Dalmia'' and Jaidayal Dalmia. The Dalmia brothers established a business conglomerate in eastern India, in t ...

donated most of the amount required to construct a library building at the request of Gen. Sir

Claude Auchinleck Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, (21 June 1884 – 23 March 1981), was a British Army commander during the Second World War. He was a career soldier who spent much of his military career in India, where he rose to become Commander ...

. In February 1950 the Indian government and UNESCO agreed to initiate the project, and the library was officially opened on 27 October 1951, by then Prime minister

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

. The library buildings were acquired between 1951 and 1953, with operations formally transferred from UNESCO to the Indian Government in 1955. The library provides training facilities to both student librarians and social education workers and has done so from its early days. At present, The library network consists of a Central Library, 3 Branch Libraries, 20 Sub-Branch Libraries, 1 Community Library, 8 Resettlement Colony Libraries, One Braille Library, 100 Mobile Library Service Points (including 25 Braille Mobile library points) and 33 Deposit Stations in the Union Territory of Delhi Delhi & NCR.The DPL has been one of the four recipient libraries under the Delivery of Books and Newspapers (Public Libraries) Act of the Parliament of India, 1954 (as amended in 1956). As per the provision of this act, the DPL is entitled to receive one copy of each publication published in India from publishers free of cost.

Facilities

The library has been expanding its services as a centre for the dissemination of knowledge, information and culture. It is increasingly felt that the library should not merely serve as a centre for lending books, but should also grow as a robust organization devoted to promote intellectual pursuits and create community rapport among its readers.

Lending of Books

Issuing Books and reading materials to its members is the main service of every library. 1,65,854 registered members are availing this service from DPL upto 31.3.2021. In DPL, books are issued to members for a maximum period of 14 days which may be further renewed for another 14 days either in person or online. Delhi Public Library online catalog is available for its usershttp://www.delhipubliclibrary.in

References

External links

* New Delhi Public libraries in India 1951 establishments in India Libraries in Delhi {{library-stub