National Library overrules protest, sticks to shifting plan (Times of India, 7th November 2013)

KOLKATA: They waited for the day for five long years and the day is finally here.

Come November 9, National Library will shift the old newspaper Reading Room in Esplanade to its Belvedere campus. Senior officials of the library consider it a "historic" decision for two reasons. Firstly, the Reading Room is the only remnant of the Imperial Library that wasn't shifted even during the Second World War and more importantly, the shift finally looks possible after fighting a pitched battle with a section of "readers" who went up to the PMO to stall the process.

The decision to shift the Reading Room was taken way back in 2008, when KK Banerjee was the library director. But relentless resistance from a section of readers, protesting under the banner of the 'Friends ofthe National Library' (FNL), did not allow library authorities to implement the project. Since then, there has been a change of guard at National Library twice, but none could carry forward the project. Back at the helm of affairs, Banerjee is now determined to shift the Reading Room, which houses a rich collection of 19th and 20th century newspapers.

"We'll shift the Reading Room keeping in mind the interest of readers and more importantly, preserve the rare collection of newspapers. We've all facilities on our Belvedere campus to take care of old newspapers," Banerjee said.

While Banerjee sounded resolute in his "mission", FNL members were not ready to give up their "fight". They promised to do "everything", albeit peacefully, to counter the move. FNL spokesperson Sital Adhikari argued, "It'll be suicidal to move brittle newspapers from the Reading Room. A chunk of the collection will be damaged in transit." In support of their agitation, FNL members put forward a three-point argument: it's absurd to tinker with a library of historical importance; the Reading Room is centrally located and it's logical to repair the damage caused to newspapers before transporting them.

But Banerjee maintained, "It's technically not feasible to carry out restoration work at the Reading Room, which lacks basic infrastructure. Also, the equipment required for microfilming and digitization of newspapers won't fit in the cramped facility." A senior library staffer iterated, "It's a criminal offence to work on newspapers with such archival value without digitizing them. It'll be wrong to believe they will be damaged in transit because they will be transported in specially designed cases that we'll handled by trained professionals."

It may be noted here the decision to shift the Reading Room was finalized after a meeting held between library authorities and FNL representatives on August 7, 2010. But FNL members TOI spoke to weren't ready to buy the argument. "None of our members were present at any such meeting," said FNL member Tarak Ganguly. However, National Library Staff Association spokesperson Saibal Chakraborty countered, "Only a handful of readers are opposing the decision for their own interest. How can the newspapers be restored at the Reading Room when all facilities are available at Bhasha Bhavan?"