Romain Rolland Library

The Romain Rolland Library, earlier known as ‘Bibliotheque Publique’, is one of the oldest Libraries in the country and the biggest in the Union Territory. In the year 1966 when the birth centenary of the Great French Scholar, Romain Rolland who was also a contemporary and a close friend of Mahatma Gandhi was celebrated, the Library was renamed after him and ever since it is known as ‘Romain Rolland Library’.

The books in the various administrative establishments formed the nucleus of this Library which was enriched in course of time with further additions through proper financial allocations in the budget.

More than 49000 adult members are utilizing the Library and nearly 2 lakhs books are annually loaned to the readers.

Apart from this, nearly 190 periodicals are being subscribed. It is indeed heartening to note that on an average about 1,000 readers are making use of the reading room facilities everyday.

Recently the Library has not only developed in size, but has improved its service by making available a large number of books, and by opening more sections to render all possible help to the reading public.

1. Children Section

The main aim of having a separate Children’s Section is to foster the reading habit among the members of the younger generation. Children in the age group of 4 to 14 are admitted to this Section. More than 7000 children of various schools are making use of this Section by enrolling themselves as members. Books are selected according to the taste of the age groups, such as picture books, story books, travel, adventures, classic and books of elementary level. The Section works from 4.00 pm. to 7.00 pm. But on Saturdays and Sundays when schools have their weekly holidays and also during vacations this Section functions from 9.00 a.m. to 12.30 pm and 4.00 pm. To 7.00 pm.

2. Rare Book Collection

This section is having a collection of old and rare books numbering about 15,000. Scholars from all parts of the country and even from the distant lands in the West visit this Library to carry on their research work with the aid of its rare collection. Unfortunately these rare books are very old and too brittle to handle. Hence the process for Micro-filming had been initiated to save them for posterity and the unit is now functioning.