Govt National Library Jobs 2026 - Sarkari Naukri

The National Library, foremost among the libraries in India, is one of the four designated libraries entitled to receive under the Delivery of Books and Newspapers (Public Libraries) Act, 1954 a copy of every publication published anywhere in the country. The library is a permanent depository of all reading and printed materials produced in India, or written by any foreigner, wherever published and in whatever language.

The origin of the National Library is traced to the former Calcutta Public Library, established in the first half of the 19th century. The Calcutta Public Library was established largely at the initiative of Mr. J. H. Stoqueler, the Editor of the Englishman. The library was opened to the public on the 21st of March 1936 on the ground floor in the residence of Dr. F.P. Strong, a Civil Surgeon.

It was Lord Curzon who first conceived the idea of opening a library for use by the public. He took note of two libraries with rich collections of books - the Imperial Library formed in 1891 by amalgamating a number of Secretariat libraries and the Calcutta Public Library. The Imperial Library (Indentures Validation) Act was passed in 1902 and the reconstituted Imperial Library was formally opened to the public at the Metcalfe Hall on the 30th January 1903 by Lord Curzon with the intention that it should be a library of reference, a working place for students, and a repository of materials for the future historians of India, in which, so far as possible, every work written about India at any time can be seen and read.