NORTH BENGAL STATE LIBRARY

Find rare manuscripts and books from Internet

From now on you need not go to any library to get information about any book to meet your special interest or for research work. Just log on to the website of the library and get the information required.

All the state and district level libraries of this state are going to be connected with the State Central Library situated at Ultodanga in Kolkata. The work for the ambitious project has already started and a few libraries got connected through the Internet. It is expected that very soon all the remaining libraries may be joined through the Internet.

It is learnt that once the State Central Library is connected with the other libraries in the state through the Internet, the readers and researchers may receive all required information of any book or manuscript kept in any of the libraries of any district. One will have to search his or her choice of book or manuscript by logging on the site of the specific library without going to that library. The North Bengal State Library in Cooch Behar already got connected with the State Central Library, according to its librarian Mr Ranu Dey.

Effort to prepare a descriptive catalogue of rare and invaluable Sanskrit manuscripts of the North Bengal State Library has started. The number of such age-old manuscripts is about one hundred. In 1940, the then ruler of Cooch Behar State Maharaja Jagaddipendra Narayan had invited an eminent scholar Shashi Bhusan Dasgupta to make a descriptive catalogue of the age-old Bengali manuscripts and scriptures, Mr Dey said. Dasgupta had prepared a catalogue of one hundred Bengali manuscripts. At that time the work for making a catalogue of Sanskrit manuscripts was not possible due to different reasons. Now, the work has been initiated with financial assistance from the National Archive of the Government of India, Mr Dey said.

The NBSL librarian is happy to get connected with the State Central Library through the Internet. He said that there were about 85,000 books in the NBSL. Number of rare books is about 16,000. Number of handwritten manuscripts of 500 to 300 year-old is 228. After completion of the work of preparing of descriptive catalogue of Sanscrit manuscripts they will start making of such catalogue of manuscripts written in Assamese language, Mr Dey added.

NBSL sources said that computerisation of description of the books purchased during past one year has been completed. They may engage a reputed and experienced agency to prepare of descriptive catalogue of remaining 70,000 books.

In 2007, a section for the children was added to the North Bengal State Library that started its journey dated back in 1870. In this section there are about 4,000 books and the number of members is about 500. A Career Guidance Section was added to the library in 2001 and it is also very popular among the students who are going to seat for different competitive examinations.