SPEECH BY HER EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA, SHRIMATI PRATIBHA DEVISINGH PATIL, AT THE UTTARPARA JAIKRISHNA PUBLIC LIBRARY AT KOLKATA

Kolkata, West Bengal, 24th August 2008

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am happy to participate in the celebrations to commemorate 150 years of the Uttarpara Jaikrishna Public Library. I congratulate Shri Santasri Chatterjee President of the Celebration Committee and its Members for organizing this event.

The Library was established by the Late Babu Jaikrishna Mukherjee for the intellectual advancement of the people and opened to the public in 1859 as a free reading centre, which I am informed, was the first of its kind in Asia. Babu Jaikrishna not only set up the library and donated his own collection of books but systematically enriched the collection with English, Bengali and Sanskrit books, documents, manuscripts and periodicals.

I am told that the Library is immensely rich in primary printed materials of the Seventeenth to the Nineteenth century with a collection of about fifty five thousand rare books. In addition, it has a thousand manuscripts on palm leaf, plantain leaf and handmade paper collected from Benaras, Kashmir and monasteries from Tibet. It is, therefore, not without good reason that this Library has been described as a valuable treasure house, acclaimed by scholars as a good research library and considered as a living history of the literature and culture of Bengal.

Bengal is renowned for its intellectual and academic contributions to India. Its literature is rich and variegated. The writings of Gurudev Thakur reflect the thinking and philosophy of India. His works touched the hearts and minds of people across many continents, making him a poet of the world. During my visit to Latin America in April this year, I was particularly pleased when the President of Chile quoted from "Gitanjali", while welcoming me. Gurudev's message, that humanity is one and the people of the world must live harmoniously, is true for all times and all ages. I will quote a couple of lines from his poem, "Prabhat Utsav", which express this sentiment:

This feeling of universal unity can only be possible when knowledge is acquired by people and societies are enlightened. In fact, libraries are known as the repositories of our knowledge. From ancient times, the building and setting up of libraries have been a measure of civilisational progress. In fact, it was said that a library constituted the soul of a city and the development of a town or a city was not complete till it had a library. Across the world, libraries have contributed to improving the quality of life of its citizens and providing them many opportunities for gaining knowledge and for intellectual advancement.

India is known for having a tradition of libraries. Nalanda University was a renowned seat of learning in India and housed one of the greatest libraries of the ancient world. Its collection was so extensive that when the University was ransacked in the 12th century, the burning of the manuscripts of the library continued for several months. Just as destruction of libraries, the store houses of information, is inexcusable, their preservation is important for future posterity. As mankind progresses, its culture is nurtured and preserved in different ways. While the institutions devoted to the performing arts keep alive traditions, it is museums and libraries that act as the archival memories of our collective consciousness. Libraries are the common heritage of mankind as they preserve documents that contain information about human development and diversity. However, conservation is both an art and a science. It requires a constant upgradation of systems to ensure that various environmental, biological and human factors do not result in destroying collections.

For an institution to survive and to be relevant, it also needs to change with changing times. In this age of technological progress, all sectors are seeking to take advantage of new techniques and methods. In the library field also, we see the impact of technology. From the manner in which the databases of acquisitions and references are maintained to the actual lending of books and keeping of records, all can be accomplished with software operating on computers. Digitization and micro-films have proved to be useful for preservation of ancient books. With ICT we see the dawn of a new age when libraries, while maintaining physical stores of books are also converting their collections into electronic form, allowing users to access and download entire volumes straight onto their computers.

Library professionals and librarians can benefit immensely from keeping themselves abreast of new technologies in library usage. I would encourage libraries to also develop partnerships with other libraries, a concept which is very easy and simple with modern technology. The exchange of information between libraries would not only enrich them, but would help in exchange of experiences which can help in adopting better practices for libraries like cataloging and preservation of records.

Libraries should, through outreach programmes, make people aware of the resources available with them and through innovation make access to these resources easier. For any library to be successful, it requires the involvement of people and their active participation. I would urge the public to look at libraries as centres of learning and contribute to their success by ensuring that they spend some time there. Libraries, on their part, should ensure that their collections remain forward looking and diversified and of renowned quality.

A Librarian has traditionally been an intellectual friend, who guided readers towards books in their areas of interest and to bringing to their notice new publications. It is for this reason that libraries are considered social institutions, as they played a role in the dissemination of information to the public. This role continues even today. Libraries have a responsibility to inculcate, particularly among the youth, an interest in reading, including of books which have great social and historical relevance which would help them in understanding the evolution of mankind and the values of which have guided human beings to become good individuals, who contribute to create an enlightened society.

I wish to emphasize that while technology can make knowledge available at the click of a button, healthy reading habits are also equally important. Reading books helps us imagine what is written, which helps develop mental ability and sharpness of an individual. I would urge all of you, in particular the youth, to develop healthy reading habits and would like to remind you of an old proverb that, "good books serve as your best friends." They are like your philosopher and guide. They speak of the past, keep you aware about the present and give guidance about the future, as well as do the important work of transmitting collective wisdom and thoughts from one generation to the next.

I conclude with best wishes to the Library and all its readers. The commendable efforts made by Babu Jaikrishna to set it up and of those who in the last 150 years have contributed to nurturing and maintaining it, deserve praise. The good work must continue. Your request for support for the Library has been forwarded to the Ministry of Culture of the Government of India for extending assistance for modernisation. However, as a token, I have already handed over a cheque of Rs. 10 lakh for the Library for the preservation of its rich and priceless collection of books.

Thank You.

Jai Hind