Cantonment Public Library (), formerly known as Lansdowne Trust Library, is a public library in

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

, Pakistan. It was established in 1891 and has a collection of around 50,000 books and 1500 members.

History

In 1891, two brothers, Sardar Kirpal Singh Rai Bahadar and Sardar Sujan Singh Rai Bahadar, established a trust known as The Lansdowne Trust in the

Rawalpindi Cantonment Rawalpindi Cantonment () is a large military town located in Rawalpindi, Punjab province, Pakistan. The headquarters of the Pakistan Army, which are known as the General Headquarters (GHQ), are located in the nearby Chaklala Cantonment. It cove ...

. The trust laid the foundation of the

Odeon Cinema Odeon Cinemas Limited, trading as Odeon (stylised in all caps), is a cinema brand name operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and Greece, which along with UCI Cinemas and Nordic Cinema Group is part of the Odeon Cinemas Group subsid ...

, Shah Baloot Park, and a library. The library was originally given the name Lansdowne Trust Library in honor of the viceroy Lord

Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, (14 January 18453 June 1927), was a British statesman who served successively as Governor General of Canada, Viceroy of India, Secretary of State for War and Secretary of State ...

. In the beginning, it was located at a place on the Kashmir road, but later in 1980, was shifted to its current place on the Mall. The library started with a collection of 5,000 books. In 1983, the president

Zia-ul-Haq Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (12 August 192417 August 1988) was a Pakistani military officer and statesman who served as the sixth president of Pakistan from 1978 until his death in an airplane crash in 1988. He also served as the second chief of ...

provided Rs1.8 million for the renovation of the library building. In 2022, a controversy was raised when the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board converted the main hall of the library into a computer office and erased the 124-year-old library's name from the building without any prior approval from the Lansdowne Trust.

Services and facilities

More than 50,000 books on various subjects, including 25,000 in English and 25,000 in Urdu, are currently held in the library. There are 300 active members and 1500 general members. However, due to a lack of patron interest and inadequate facilities, the library's membership is on decline. The library's upper level and ground floor are set aside for study and research purposes, with separated parts for

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

. It has a separate room for ladies and children. Additionally to

Braille Braille ( , ) is a Tactile alphabet, tactile writing system used by blindness, blind or visually impaired people. It can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille displays that connect to computers and smartphone device ...

for blind learners, the library also provides books for special individuals.

References

{{Libraries in Pakistan Rawalpindi Cantonment Libraries in Pakistan Libraries established in 1891 1891 establishments in British India

History

Services and facilities

See also

References