The document discusses the legacy of the Bengal Renaissance in the development of public libraries in India during British colonial rule. It notes that modern universities established in the 19th century led to an awakening in Bengal and the emergence of an educated generation who became leaders in social reform movements. Many public libraries were established during this time with community support. These libraries played an important role in society as community spaces for debates and raising awareness against British rule. The legacy of the Bengal Renaissance continues to influence library development in the state of West Bengal where many century old libraries remain concentrated in Kolkata and surrounding areas.
Ruler Akbar of the Mughal Empire was the most well-known emperor for his religious
tolerance and reforms in the late 1500s. While Europe was engulfed in the flames of the
Inquisition Era, in the Indian subcontinent, Akbar was determined to create his kingdom a
haven of peace and togetherness.
Ruler Akbar of the Mughal Empire was the most well-known emperor for his religious
tolerance and reforms in the late 1500s. While Europe was engulfed in the flames of the
Inquisition Era, in the Indian subcontinent, Akbar was determined to create his kingdom a
haven of peace and togetherness.
What is Communalism?
It is basically an ideology which consists of three elements:-
• A belief that people who follow the same religion have common secular interests i.e. they have same political, economic and social interests. So, here socio- political communalities arises.
• A notion that, in a multi-religious society like India, these common secular interests of one religion are dissimilar and divergent from the interests of the follower of another religion.
• The interests of the follower of the different religion or of different ‘communities’ are seen to be completely incompatible, antagonist and hostile.
Communalism is political trade in religion. It is an ideology on which communal politics is based. And communal violence are conjectural consequences of communal ideology.
Communalism is the greatest threat to India's existence and need to be handled with care
The Swadeshi Movement is an economy strategy
aimed at removing the British empire from power
and improving economics conditions in India.
5 phases of Swadeshi Movement:
- 1852 to 1904: Known as first Swadeshi Movement.
- 1905 to 1917: This phase began because of the partition of Bengal.
- 1918 to 1947: Rise of Indian industrialists.
- 1948 to 1991: Widespread curbs on international and interstate trade.
- 1991 onwards: Liberalization and Globalization and Growth of Industrialization.
Lokmanya Tilak
The Bhakti movement refers to the theistic devotional trend that emerged in medieval Hinduism[1] and later revolutionised in Sikhism.[2] It originated in the eighth-century Tamil south India (now Tamil Nadu and Kerala) and spread northwards.[1] It swept over east and north India from the 15th century onwards, reaching its zenith between the 15th and 17th century CE.
*Meaning
*Main Features
*Development
*The Path Of Bhakti
*Impact
Impact of colonialism in india.
Colonisation had a severe impact on the Indian traders and merchants. Indian markets were fully captured by the British and heavy taxes were imposed on the export of Indian products in the outside market. In this way the market for Indian goods were losing popularity and Indian traders and merchants faced heavy losses.
Vibhuti Patel & Radhika khajuria on political feminism in india 16 6-2016VIBHUTI PATEL
the last 50 years of feminist activism in India has managed to challenge the 5,000 years of patriarchal order. the main achievements were the deconstruction of violence against women, questioning of male domination within the family, kinship, religion, media and the State, in addition to a series of legal reforms. understanding of privilege to reshape the world has been the distinct contribution of the feminist movement along with the focus on the marginalised.
the feminist space in India is distinctive and builds upon a diversity of women’s groups, political party networks, feminist and HIV/AIDS-related nGos, nonfunded feminist and queer groups and individuals, democratic rights groups, eco-feminists, non-feminists, research institutes and universities. Despite the broad experience, this space remains rather disunited.
Currently, there is a backlash to feminism, as major insights of women’s activism did not succeed in altering the fixed notions of gender roles and traditions. on the contrary, some of these have enjoyed a revival with marketisation and cultural traditionalism. there is a disconnect between theory and practice: study groups and human rights activists seem to work in silos, unlike in the 1970s when there was greater dialogue between the women’s movement and women’s studies.
the gendering of citizenship requires us to question and challenge the fact that citizenship, a supposedly public identity, is produced and mediated by the supposedly private heterosexual patriarchal family. the ‘personal’ has become ‘political’ as it is completely submerged in power relations. Like any other structure of power, patriarchy too has an outside, which is what makes possible the different kinds of protests that constantly undermine it.
Feminism today is the constant questioning of the world we perceive and the boundaries we encounter. the more we understand, the more we are able to build a narrative for change. there are innumerable new energies arising from different positions transforming the feminist field: new contestations of patriarchy, and new contestations of the normative feminism itself. It will be the interplay of fields that might change the system altogether.
REGIONAL
This presentation gives a brief information on the life of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule. This was presented by student of social sciences at TATA INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES,TULJAPUR
What is Communalism?
It is basically an ideology which consists of three elements:-
• A belief that people who follow the same religion have common secular interests i.e. they have same political, economic and social interests. So, here socio- political communalities arises.
• A notion that, in a multi-religious society like India, these common secular interests of one religion are dissimilar and divergent from the interests of the follower of another religion.
• The interests of the follower of the different religion or of different ‘communities’ are seen to be completely incompatible, antagonist and hostile.
Communalism is political trade in religion. It is an ideology on which communal politics is based. And communal violence are conjectural consequences of communal ideology.
Communalism is the greatest threat to India's existence and need to be handled with care
The Swadeshi Movement is an economy strategy
aimed at removing the British empire from power
and improving economics conditions in India.
5 phases of Swadeshi Movement:
- 1852 to 1904: Known as first Swadeshi Movement.
- 1905 to 1917: This phase began because of the partition of Bengal.
- 1918 to 1947: Rise of Indian industrialists.
- 1948 to 1991: Widespread curbs on international and interstate trade.
- 1991 onwards: Liberalization and Globalization and Growth of Industrialization.
Lokmanya Tilak
The Bhakti movement refers to the theistic devotional trend that emerged in medieval Hinduism[1] and later revolutionised in Sikhism.[2] It originated in the eighth-century Tamil south India (now Tamil Nadu and Kerala) and spread northwards.[1] It swept over east and north India from the 15th century onwards, reaching its zenith between the 15th and 17th century CE.
*Meaning
*Main Features
*Development
*The Path Of Bhakti
*Impact
Impact of colonialism in india.
Colonisation had a severe impact on the Indian traders and merchants. Indian markets were fully captured by the British and heavy taxes were imposed on the export of Indian products in the outside market. In this way the market for Indian goods were losing popularity and Indian traders and merchants faced heavy losses.
Vibhuti Patel & Radhika khajuria on political feminism in india 16 6-2016VIBHUTI PATEL
the last 50 years of feminist activism in India has managed to challenge the 5,000 years of patriarchal order. the main achievements were the deconstruction of violence against women, questioning of male domination within the family, kinship, religion, media and the State, in addition to a series of legal reforms. understanding of privilege to reshape the world has been the distinct contribution of the feminist movement along with the focus on the marginalised.
the feminist space in India is distinctive and builds upon a diversity of women’s groups, political party networks, feminist and HIV/AIDS-related nGos, nonfunded feminist and queer groups and individuals, democratic rights groups, eco-feminists, non-feminists, research institutes and universities. Despite the broad experience, this space remains rather disunited.
Currently, there is a backlash to feminism, as major insights of women’s activism did not succeed in altering the fixed notions of gender roles and traditions. on the contrary, some of these have enjoyed a revival with marketisation and cultural traditionalism. there is a disconnect between theory and practice: study groups and human rights activists seem to work in silos, unlike in the 1970s when there was greater dialogue between the women’s movement and women’s studies.
the gendering of citizenship requires us to question and challenge the fact that citizenship, a supposedly public identity, is produced and mediated by the supposedly private heterosexual patriarchal family. the ‘personal’ has become ‘political’ as it is completely submerged in power relations. Like any other structure of power, patriarchy too has an outside, which is what makes possible the different kinds of protests that constantly undermine it.
Feminism today is the constant questioning of the world we perceive and the boundaries we encounter. the more we understand, the more we are able to build a narrative for change. there are innumerable new energies arising from different positions transforming the feminist field: new contestations of patriarchy, and new contestations of the normative feminism itself. It will be the interplay of fields that might change the system altogether.
REGIONAL
This presentation gives a brief information on the life of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule. This was presented by student of social sciences at TATA INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES,TULJAPUR
It is about Bengal at the time when the British came to India the changes they faced the type of growth and many things after they came and most important thing that who was the one who chose Calcutta for a British trade settlement and why this place was particularly selected when India was such a huge country back then when even Pakistan was also there (before the partition)
Revitalizing Communication and Professional Development Through Unconferences...Lisa Chow
Schedule a date, book a few rooms, and you're set. This program illustrates how Brooklyn Public Library developed BPL ThinkTank, their first unconference, to provide an informal and open space for creativity and innovation as well as professional development. Tap your staff's collective knowledge to improve morale and service. This program will also feature lessons from Darien Library's inaugural KidLib Camp, a regional unconference for librarians serving children in school and public libraries.
Library education was initially a technical education that was acquired on the job. Practical work in a library, based on a good education in schools, was the only way to train librarians.
It took quite a long time to introduce library education as a subject and has been taught at different levels in the universities of the world.
Libraries in Modern China reviews the development of libraries over the course of the 20th century up to the Beijing Library Centennial in 2009. Kimberly Reed, Dominican University, 2009.
The Dynamics of Relationship between Colonial Modernity and Education in Keralaijtsrd
The foundation of modern education was laid down in Kerala as part of the colonial discourse. It is necessary to understand the dynamics of relationship between education and colonialism. The development of education under colonial rule was to legitimize their domination and to serve their own economic needs. Education in Kerala was designed by the colonial plans. Economic, political and cultural control over the subjected society was essential for the survival of colonial rule and education was used to achieve this goal. Attempts were made to develop, through education, a new set of values and justification of the colonial rule. As a result, education of Kerala loses its traditional and independent identity and becomes subordinate to political power. Dr. Rekha P "The Dynamics of Relationship between Colonial Modernity and Education in Kerala" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-7 | Issue-5 , October 2023, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd59850.pdf Paper Url: https://www.ijtsrd.com/humanities-and-the-arts/history/59850/the-dynamics-of-relationship-between-colonial-modernity-and-education-in-kerala/dr-rekha-p
Ancient India: Discovery, invention and usesRajesh Kochhar
Physical conquest of India by the British was relatively a simple affair even though it took 60 long years, 1757-1818.
But the colonial empire needed legitimacy and support from among the natives.
This was accomplished by developing ancient India as a colonial tool.
The same tool was utilized by the Hindus to blunt the missionary attacks on their religion and develop mild courage to look the empire in the eye.
THE INTRODUCTION OF WESTERN EDUCATION ACTED AS A CHANGING FACTOR OF KERALA SOCIETY. THE ROLE OF CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES INCLUDING CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT MISSIONARIES PROVIDED LOT OF CONTRIBUTION TO THE EDUCATION OF KERALA.
This paper discusses the sequential phases in the development of public libraries in Nigeria and the role of public library in national development. It recommends that government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) should invest more in public libraries in view of their important roles in national development and ensure that the libraries are managed by professional librarians.
Science Communication in the Light of INSA Policy Statement on "Dissemination...Anup Kumar Das
The presentation titled "Science Communication in the Light of INSA Policy Statement on "Dissemination and Evaluation of Research Output in India" was presented in 18th Indian Science Communication Congress (ISCC2018), celebrating 200 Years of Science Journalism in India, at NASC, New Delhi during 20-21 December 2018.
Recent Innovations in Educational Technology in India for the Delivery of Lif...Anup Kumar Das
Presentation titled "Recent Innovations in Educational Technology in India for the Delivery of Lifelong Learning" was presented in a Webinar on ‘ICT Innovation in Education', organized by Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University, during the "3rd Belt and Road Open Education Learning Week 2018".
Open Science in the Global South: A Case of IndiaAnup Kumar Das
"Open Science in the Global South: A Case of India" was presented in the Seminar on Open Science Policy and Technology Access: A Challenge for Developing Countries, on 23 March 2017, at Mangosuthu University of Technology, Durban, South Africa.
It was Presented in the 1st Refresher Course in E-Learning & E-Governance (Interdisciplinary) on July 30, 2018 at UGC-Human Resource Development Centre (HRDC), Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. I was invited as a Resource Person for the training course.
RRI with a Global Perspective: Linking European and International Experience ...Anup Kumar Das
The presentation "RRI with a Global Perspective: Linking European and International Experience _ India" was delivered at the 2nd HEIRRI Conference at Vienna, Austria on 27th April 2018.
This was delivered by Dr Bidyarthi Dutta. Further details about the conference available on https://bit.ly/2jpFb19 .
Role of Open Science in Addressing Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI)Anup Kumar Das
Presented in IndiaLICS2017: The 4th IndiaLICS Conference on Innovation for Sustainable Development: Perspectives, Policies and Practices in South Asia, 2nd-4th November, at New Delhi, India.
Open Research Data Frameworks: Lessons for the Global SouthAnup Kumar Das
The presentation titled "Open Research Data Frameworks: Lessons for the Global South" was delivered in the National Symposium on Improving eGovernance using Big Data Analytics, held at Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India, on 28th February 2017. The symposium was a run up event of ICEGOV2017 (10th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance), held at New Delhi. I briefly discussed the global initiatives such as UNESCO's Global Open Access Portal (GOAP), Re3Data.org (Registry of Research Data Repositories), GODAN (Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition), Research Data Alliance (RDA), ICSSR Data Service, and self-archiving of scientific data on data repositories.
S R Ranganathan's Works in Citation DatabasesAnup Kumar Das
Prentation titled "S R Ranganathan’s Works in Citation Databases" was presented in the Seminar on Philosophy and Teachings of Dr. S R Ranganathan, on 18 February 2016, at NISCAIR, New Delhi, India.
Altmetrics and the Changing Societal Needs of Research Communications at R&D ...Anup Kumar Das
Presentation titled "Altmetrics and the Changing Societal Needs of Research Communications at R&D Centres in an Emerging Country: A Case Study of India", presented in the 2nd Altmetrics Conference
Session: Altmetrics as indicators of economic and social impact
On 7th October 2015, at Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
UNESCO Open Access (OA) Curriculum for Library Schools and LibrariansAnup Kumar Das
A Presentation on "UNESCO Open Access (OA) Curriculum for Library Schools and Librarians" was delivered in RRC Panel Discussion on Open Access Journals: Issues and Challenges, organized by Ranganathan Research Circle (RRC) on 5th September 2015, at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
The IFLA Trend Report identifies five top level trends which will play a key role in shaping our future information ecosystem:
TREND 1 New Technologies will Both Expand and Limit Who has Access to Information.
TREND 2 Online Education will Democratise and Disrupt Global Learning.
TREND 3 The Boundaries of Privacy and Data Protection will be Redefined.
TREND 4 Hyper-Connected Societies will Listen to and Empower New Voices and Groups.
TREND 5 The Global Information Economy will be Transformed by New Technologies.
Understanding Global Perspectives in Open Science: Positions of BRICS CountriesAnup Kumar Das
Paper titled "Understanding Global Perspectives in Open Science : Positions of BRICS Countries", was presented in International Conference on Data Sharing and Integration for Global Sustainability (SciDataCon 2014) in the Session: Strategies Towards Open Science, at JNU Convention Centre, New Delhi, 2-5 November 2014.
Open Access to Scholarly Research: Implications for Research LibrariesAnup Kumar Das
Open Access to Scholarly Research: Implications for Research Libraries, Presented in International Meeting Workshop on Library Information Systems and Services: Challenges and Opportunities (under the People to People Ambassador Programs, USA) at CSIR-NISTADS , November 5, 2014. This is a bilateral collaborative LIS Program between Indian & US Librarians.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Research CommunicatorsAnup Kumar Das
The emergence of Web 2.0 and simultaneously Library 2.0 platforms has helped the library and information professionals to outreach to new audiences beyond their physical boundaries. In a globalized society, information becomes very useful resource for socio-economic empowerment of marginalized communities, economic prosperity of common citizens, and knowledge enrichment of liberated minds. Scholarly information becomes both developmental and functional for researchers working towards advancement of knowledge. We must recognize a relay of information flow and information ecology while pursuing scholarly research. Published scholarly literatures we consult that help us in creation of new knowledge. Similarly, our published scholarly works should be outreached to future researchers for regeneration of next dimension of knowledge. Fortunately, present day research communicators have many freely available personalized digital tools to outreach to globalized research audiences having similar research interests. These tools and techniques, already adopted by many researchers in different subject areas across the world, should be enthusiastically utilized by LIS researchers in South Asia for global dissemination of their scholarly research works. This newly found enthusiasm will soon become integral part of the positive habits and cultural practices of research communicators in LIS domain.
Full-text Paper is available here: http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1409/1409.3920.pdf
Ethical Dimensions in the Biomedical Innovations in India: An AnalysisAnup Kumar Das
Presentation titled "Ethical Dimensions in the Biomedical Innovations in India: An Analysis" was presented in the Second International Convention on Ethics in Research on Human Participants: Evolving Norms and Guidelines for the Indian Context, 2-4 September 2014, at JNU Convention Centre, New Delhi; Organized by Institutional Ethics Review Board, JNU, India.
Genesis of Altmetrics or Article-level Metrics for Measuring Efficacy of Scho...Anup Kumar Das
Pre-Print Version of a research paper submitted to Journal of Scientometric Research, 2014.
Abstract: The Article-level metrics or altmetrics becomes a new trendsetter in recent times for measuring impact of scientific publications and their social outreach to intended audiences. The popular social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin and social bookmarks such as Mendeley and CiteULike are nowadays widely used for communicating research to larger transnational audiences. In 2012, the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) got signed by the scientific and researchers communities across the world. This Declaration has given preference to the article-level metrics (ALM) or altmetrics over traditional but faulty journal impact factor (JIF)-based assessment of career scientists. JIF does not consider impact or influence beyond citations count, as this count reflected only through Thomson Reuters Web of Science database. Also JIF provides indicator related to a journal, but not related to a published paper. Thus, altmetrics now becomes an alternative metrics for performance assessment of individual scientists and their contributed scholarly publications. This paper provides a glimpse of genesis of altmetrics in measuring efficacy of scholarly communications. This paper also highlights available altmetric tools and social platforms linking altmetric tools, which are widely used in deriving altmetric scores of scholarly publications.
Open Access Policy for Universities in India: A ProposalAnup Kumar Das
"Open Access Policy for Universities in India: A Proposal"; a presentation for the One Day National Seminar on Changing Role of Librarians in Digital Era; organized by JNU, New Delhi, India on 12th August 2014 on the occasion of 122nd Birth Anniversary of Dr S. R Ranganathan.
Open Access to Biomedical Research in India: Contributions Made by Indian Sci...Anup Kumar Das
Open Access to Biomedical Research in India: Contributions Made by Indian Scientists for Global Access;
Presented in KCL-JNU Workshop On Biomedical Innovation and the Public; Session: Open Access and Biomedical Innovation: Trends, Issues and the Way Forward. 13-14 March 2014, JNU Convention Centre, New Delhi
Organized by King's College London (KCL) and Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Climatic Vulnerability of the Sundarbans in South AsiaAnup Kumar Das
In this visualization project I have given brief overview of Sundarbans delta region in South Asia. The Sundarbans is one of the largest mangrove forests in the world. It lies on the delta of the Bay of Bengal, covering two countries – India and Bangladesh. More than half of it is in India, the rest is in Bangladesh. It has status of protected and reserved forests in both countries. Indian side Sundarbans was inscribed on UNESCO World Heritage List in 1987, whereas Bangladesh side was inscribed in 1997. It lies in climatically vulnerable zones, capturing the spectrum of climatic events – erosion, submergence and cyclone. Zones have experienced differential effect of climatic events. Deltaic islands in this region are slowly submerging due to global warming.
Model Attribute Check Company Auto PropertyCeline George
In Odoo, the multi-company feature allows you to manage multiple companies within a single Odoo database instance. Each company can have its own configurations while still sharing common resources such as products, customers, and suppliers.
How to Make a Field invisible in Odoo 17Celine George
It is possible to hide or invisible some fields in odoo. Commonly using “invisible” attribute in the field definition to invisible the fields. This slide will show how to make a field invisible in odoo 17.
Read| The latest issue of The Challenger is here! We are thrilled to announce that our school paper has qualified for the NATIONAL SCHOOLS PRESS CONFERENCE (NSPC) 2024. Thank you for your unwavering support and trust. Dive into the stories that made us stand out!
Unit 8 - Information and Communication Technology (Paper I).pdfThiyagu K
This slides describes the basic concepts of ICT, basics of Email, Emerging Technology and Digital Initiatives in Education. This presentations aligns with the UGC Paper I syllabus.
The Art Pastor's Guide to Sabbath | Steve ThomasonSteve Thomason
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The Indian economy is classified into different sectors to simplify the analysis and understanding of economic activities. For Class 10, it's essential to grasp the sectors of the Indian economy, understand their characteristics, and recognize their importance. This guide will provide detailed notes on the Sectors of the Indian Economy Class 10, using specific long-tail keywords to enhance comprehension.
For more information, visit-www.vavaclasses.com
Welcome to TechSoup New Member Orientation and Q&A (May 2024).pdfTechSoup
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Operation “Blue Star” is the only event in the history of Independent India where the state went into war with its own people. Even after about 40 years it is not clear if it was culmination of states anger over people of the region, a political game of power or start of dictatorial chapter in the democratic setup.
The people of Punjab felt alienated from main stream due to denial of their just demands during a long democratic struggle since independence. As it happen all over the word, it led to militant struggle with great loss of lives of military, police and civilian personnel. Killing of Indira Gandhi and massacre of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and other India cities was also associated with this movement.
We all have good and bad thoughts from time to time and situation to situation. We are bombarded daily with spiraling thoughts(both negative and positive) creating all-consuming feel , making us difficult to manage with associated suffering. Good thoughts are like our Mob Signal (Positive thought) amidst noise(negative thought) in the atmosphere. Negative thoughts like noise outweigh positive thoughts. These thoughts often create unwanted confusion, trouble, stress and frustration in our mind as well as chaos in our physical world. Negative thoughts are also known as “distorted thinking”.
This is a presentation by Dada Robert in a Your Skill Boost masterclass organised by the Excellence Foundation for South Sudan (EFSS) on Saturday, the 25th and Sunday, the 26th of May 2024.
He discussed the concept of quality improvement, emphasizing its applicability to various aspects of life, including personal, project, and program improvements. He defined quality as doing the right thing at the right time in the right way to achieve the best possible results and discussed the concept of the "gap" between what we know and what we do, and how this gap represents the areas we need to improve. He explained the scientific approach to quality improvement, which involves systematic performance analysis, testing and learning, and implementing change ideas. He also highlighted the importance of client focus and a team approach to quality improvement.
The Legacy of Bengal Renaissance in Public Library Development in India during the Colonial British Rule: A Historiographical Study
1. The Legacy of Bengal Renaissance in Public
Library Development in India during the
Colonial British Rule: A Historiographical
Study
Anup Kumar Das
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
Presented at
International Conference History of Librarianship
25-26 August 2014
2. Introduction
The 19th and 20th century Bengal was a nerve centre with hosts of socio-cultural
and religious reform movements due to early association of secular liberal western
education.
University of Calcutta, established on 24 January 1857, became the first modern
university in South Asia.
Later University of Bombay and University of Madras were established in the same
year 1857.
Incidentally, the year 1857 is better known for India’s first struggle for independence
or Indian Mutiny (also called the Great Rebellion of India, the Revolt of 1857, the
Uprising of 1857 or the Sepoy Mutiny), from the British colonial ruler – the East India
Company.
British colonial rule helped expansion of these universities with affiliated colleges
across the country.
Modern institutions of higher learning, established by colonial British rulers,
European missionaries and also by contemporary social reformers, led to the
awakening of Bengali educated communities.
3. Introduction
With modern and secular education, the country saw the emergence of a learned,
enlightened and educated new generation of youths.
Many of them became key actors in socio-cultural and religious reform movements
in Bengal and other parts of the country.
The Bengal Renaissance started in the nineteenth century and continued till early
twentieth century in undivided India's Bengal province.
European scholars based in India and attached with the Asiatic Society of India and
other learned institutions also supported Bengal’s reform movements.
During the British colonial period many public libraries got established.
Some of them were established with community efforts, without bothering
patronage of local colonial rulers.
Few others received support from the local rulers.
The public libraries which got supports of the local communities flourished with
diversified services.
Public libraries become a community space for social functions, intercultural
interactions, debating on contemporary burning issues, and sometimes with political
motives of raising awareness against awful governance and anti-people stances of
the British colonial rulers.
4. Introduction
The colleges produced learned actors or supporters of
Bengal Renaissance movement include:
Fort William College, 1800
Serampore College, 1818
Hindu College, 1817 (rechristened Presidency College in 1855)
Sanskrit College, 1824
Scottish Church College, 1830 (as General Assembly's Institution/
Duff College)
St. Xavier's College, Calcutta, 1860
6. Century Old Libraries in the state of West Bengal
West Bengal Public Library Network (WBPLN), under the Mass Education Extension and Library
Services Department, Government of West Bengal, maintains a list of Century Old Libraries in the
state.
It covers about 81 libraries. Most of the century-old libraries are concentrated around Kolkata
metropolitan city, due to the legacy of Bengal Renaissance. Later, public libraries were established in
other districts of the Bengal Province.
7. Concentration of Century Old Libraries in West Bengal
Surrounding City of Calcutta
Bengal Districts in the Early 20th Century
11. Some Other Observations
WBPLN maintains ICT-enabled online referral services for directing library users to public
libraries in their neighbourhood.
WBPLN is trying to fulfil the WSIS Target 4: Connect all public libraries, museums, post
offices and national archives with ICTs. However, in many other states situation is not
conducive enough.
Many of the Century Old Libraries presently have private or community-based management,
and have opted out from the Government aid, due to retaintion of their autonomy.
Many of these Century Old Libraries In West Bengal were associated with various social
movements or founded as outcomes of religious reform movements, and freedom struggle.
Some public libraries initiated unique service of free reading rooms, for the young members,
which give conducive learning space to students who don't have access to electricity at
home or don't have adequate space for serious reading/ learning.
Some of these reading rooms have already completed centenary years, e.g., Ram Mohan
Library & Free Reading Room, Kolkata (e. 1904), Bagbazar Free Reading Library, Kolkata (e.
1907), Konnagar Public Library & Free Reading Room, Hooghly (e. 1858). They are
continually serving young users for more than a century.
12. Digital Repository of West Bengal Public Library Network, launched on 12th August 2010, provides
open access to full text of rare books, mainly Bengali books and books produced during British
colonial period.
Many copyright-free (out of copyright) rare books were selected from various century-old public
libraries in West Bengal.
Presently it hosts about 18000 digitized books, which are presently in public domain.
13. Influence of Religious Reforms Movements
The religious reform movements in Bengal that influenced
establishment community libraries during 20th century across the
country, particularly in Bengal province:
Brahmo Samaj movement, since 1828
Ramakrishna Mission Movement, 1897
14. • Sadharan Brahmo Samaj Library, founded on 13th April 1895 by the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj.
• One of the prominent religious reformist institutions during the Bengal Renaissance period.
• Many of the key personalities of Bengal Renaissance were born Brahmo Samaj followers.
• •
Brahmo Samaj helped in expansion of school and college education during 19th and 20th centuries.
• It was also pioneer in introducing formal women education in the country. Later formal women
education for the natives was expanded to whole Indian sub-continent.
15. Influence of other Social Movements
The Swadeshi Movement
• Swadeshi movement became a nationalist awakening movement against
the British colonial rule in India
In this movement youths got socio-politically motivated for greater
participation in nation-building by following the principles of swadeshi (self-sufficiency).
Swadeshi movement became precursor to Indian independence movement,
and helped in flourishing swadeshi enterprises in Bengal province.
Many Revolutionary Societies were founded in Bengal province around the
time of Swadeshi movement.
Many of these groups became underground, while maintaining collection of
revolutionary literatures collected from different parts of the world. Their
politically motivating literatures helped in inspiring the youngsters in
achieving freedom from the British rule.
Many of them maintained libraries for inspiring their youth members towards
freedom fight against British colonial rule.
16. Influence of Swadeshi and Revolutionary Movements
Historian Sumit Sarkar observes:
From the very beginning, the societies tried to combine physical culture with moral and intellectual training.
The Calcutta Anushilan is said to have had a library of 4000 books, a list of 230 titles in the collection of the
Mymen-singh Suhrid Samiti has been preserved in the home political files, and these and other samitis had
a system of regular classes. The intellectual influences were extremely diverse. … Jogendranath
Vidyabhusan's numerous biographies of Mazzini, Garibaldi, and other patriotic leaders, both Indian and
foreign, seem to have been almost as important as Anandamath itself; more direct contacts with
revolutionary movements abroad were provided by the life of Mazzini, Irish nationalist literature and
Kropotkin's works presented by Nivedita. Interest in radical movements and 'revolutions', no less sincere for
being so beautifully eclectic and vague, led some early recruits further afield—thus Deuskar asked his
Anushilan Samiti pupils to try to obtain literature on socialism from the Imperial Library, and despite the
librarian's discouragement, Bhupendranath was able to get from there a book by Hyndman.
… Home department files preserve a printed report issued by the Suhrid Samiti, covering the years 1900-06.
Established originally as a centre for the physical and moral training of young men, it started giving special
attention from its second year to "the sole use of country made goods", and organised annual Shivaji
festivals from 1902 onwards. … The Samiti had by this time a regular system of training for its members.
There were lectures, discussion meeting once a week, as well as physical culture and drill. The library of the
Samiti had 230 books when the police raided it in November 1908; these included lives of Cromwell,
Washington and Napoleon, Condemned as a Nihilist, Nabya Japan and several books on Ramkrishna and
Vivekananda. The oath the volunteers had to take emphasised moral virtues, swadeshi and defence of caste
and religion.
17. Calcutta Public Library (CPL), established in 1836 with private membership
Imperial Library, established in 1891 combining a number of secretariat libraries in Calcutta
CPL amalgamated with Imperial Library in 1903 and expanded for the use of the public
Renamed as National Library of India in 1953, dedicated to the Nation
One of the colonial establishments influenced various actors of Bengal Renaissance for
indigenous knowledge creation and creation of neo-classical Bengali literature
18. North Bengal State Library was established in 1869 by the British Commissioner;
later handed over to the local ruler Maharaja Nripendra Narayan. In the year 1882
the library was opened for public use.
J.W. Troten in his book India under Victoria speaks of this library, “the little State of
Cooch Behar on Assam border could be act of a library richer than any to be found
in Bengal out side Calcutta”.
19. Concluding Remarks
Public library was considered as most appropriate public space for
engagement with local communities and to attract them in public discourses.
Newly emerged educated liberal and empowered Bengali intellectuals had
started establishment of scholarly societies, youth associations and public
libraries across the undivided Bengal province.
Many renowned public libraries were founded during the period of Bengal
Renaissance.
In every district, public libraries got established with support from the local
communities.
Public libraries also helped in development of literacy of local communities,
inculcating reading habits to first generation learners, inculcating scientific
temper and overall transformation of character of Bengali-speaking
communities.
The legacy of Bengal Renaissance had overarching impact on lives of billion
peoples rippling beyond the 19th and 20th century timeframes.