acelift to Saraswathi Mahal Library proposed
Proposals to the tune of Rs.1.65 crore have been
submitted to Union Ministry of Culture for giving a facelift to
Saraswathi Mahal Library here. The proposals were handed over by K.
Baskaran, Collector and Director of the Library, to Kumari Selja, Union
Minister of Housing, Urban Poverty Alleviation and Culture when she
visited the library recently. The proposals include digitisation of
manuscripts and books in the library (at a cost of Rs. 50 lakhs),
computerisation of the books and manuscripts (Rs. 30 lakhs), improvement
of museum (Rs. 20 lakhs), improvement of readers section (Rs. 5 lakhs),
translation of Sanskrit books (Rs. 20 lakhs), conservation of rare
books and paintings (Rs. 20 lakhs) and improvement of storage facility
(Rs. 20 lakhs).
The library which houses 70,000
books uses ‘autolib’, software to facilitate online cataloguing
facility. Due to lack of trained staff, the work could not be continued.
The computerisation work needs to be continued to help researchers and
to facilitate online cataloguing, the proposal said. Similarly the
library has published 62 volumes of catalogues for library manuscripts.
To take them online, cataloguing details should also be computerised.
The
library museum also needs to be modernised with provision for new
showcases and lighting facility. Readers section needs to be improved
with separate seating facility, air conditioning, and OPAC (online
public access catalogue). The library has quite a number of illustrated
manuscripts, drawings and rare books which need curative conservation.
The work can be done with the help of National Research Laboratory for
Conservation of Cultural Property, Lucknow, the proposal said. The
library, one among the few medieval libraries that exist in the world,
is a repository of culture and is a treasure house of knowledge built by
the successive dynasties of Nayaks and Marattas of Thanjavur. The
Encyclopaedia of Britannica in its survey of Libraries of World mentions
the library as "the most remarkable library in India".
During
the reigns of Nayaks of Thanjavur (1535-1675 A.D), the library was
formed and developed in the name of "Sarasvati Bhandar" (Collection
place of manuscripts). The Maratta Kings later developed the library
into a Royal Palace Library till 1855. Rajah Serfoji II, Maratta king
can be rightly called the architect of the library as he enriched the
library with his personal collection of books and manuscripts and
developed it.
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