Hardayal Municipal Public Library: Heritage Library struggling to live

Rahul and Shilpa

Hardayal Municipal Public Library: Heritage Library struggling to live

What do we do when we wish to know about what is happening around the world? We reach out to our mobile phone, Google and read the news. For some others, just switch on the television and watch 24X7 news channels or just see the streaming video sites. We have come to an era where the death of the newspaper is considered a certainty. In such an era, a small bookless library in Daryaganj is doing well with its reading room full of those supposedly dying entities.

Hardayal Municipal Public Library

The library was established in 1862. It is the oldest Public Library in the city of Delhi and has attained a glorifying age of 150 years. The Main Library is in Gandhi Ground (Chandni Chowk) and has two branches in Pulbangash and Daryaganj respectively. It is housed in a British-era heritage building and takes pride in having English and Hindi dailies in its collection. The Library was established in 1862 as part of a reading club meant for the then ruling Britishers.

Long back, an incident on 23rd December 1912 occupies an important place in the history of Delhi. A bomb was hurled by the freedom fighters at Lord Hardinge who was going on an elephant in a procession through Company Bagh, (now known as Gandhi Maidan) but he escaped from the bomb attack. Late Lala Hardayal, M.A. of Chandni Chowk was taking the lead. To commemorate Harding’s escape, a committee was formed soon after to construct a building for the Library. The Library was renamed Harding Public Library in 1916 when it was shifted to the new premises with its old collection and furniture.

Who knows that twenty years later, if newspapers die, this precious library could then be turned into a heritage property.

The readers are mostly elderly men. And surprisingly, nobody clutches a cellphone, suggesting that print editions of newspapers are not yet destined for the junk heap of history.

The name ‘Harding Public Library’ was further shortened to Hardinge Library. Another development took place in 1942 consequents of an agreement between the Library and the other development took place in the erstwhile Municipal Committee which gave the Library the status of an autonomous body with 100% grant-in-aid from the Municipal Corporation. Eventually in 1970 Hardinge Library became Hardayal Municipal Public Library and now in the centenary year, the management has changed the name of Hardayal Municipal Public Library to Hardayal Municipal Heritage Public Library. The Daryaganj branch has 19 dailies in Hindi, English and Urdu. It is situated on the perennially clogged Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Marg, close to Golcha theatre. About a hundred readers are seen there daily. It also has subscribed to 25 magazines, but newspapers are still the favourite.

The bare library has no sofa, lounger or air-conditioner. This is just a large airy room with one exhaust fan, three low-hung ceiling fans, four-tube lights, eight tables and a couple of benches. A picture of Saraswati, the goddess of learning, hangs on one wall. The traffic noise comes in through the open door and a large window, but the library retains its library-like quietness.