Saraswati Bhawan Library at Gulab Bagh is facing a problem of reduced membership because of increasing modernization and growing use of internet instead of books. This library is the only divisional library of Udaipur under the State Government.

The library has faced a severe decline in membership in the last one decade. Director of the library Lalit Kumar said, “In the year 2001-02 the library had a membership of 1,500-2,000 and approximately 20,000 books were issued monthly with visitors from other cities as well, which in 2012 has reduced to 5000-6000 books per month with just 500 members.”

The library has a reading department which still has visitors. Most of the people who issue books are retired individuals and students especially research scholars. The membership fee of the library is only Rs 21/- if guarantee of a government servant is provided else it is Rs 500/- and timings of the library are from 11 am to 7 pm. It remains closed on Tuesday and Saturday.

Lalit Kumar has pointed out various reasons for this downfall. He opined that people now prefer using internet than books because former is an easier and more convenient option and now-a-days students also opt for buying books from the local market.

The timing of the library is also a problem because these are usually office timings of people. He also added that readers lack awareness about the existence of such a place in the city. Another reason is a greater availability of history books which reduces the interest of persons from other fields. The staff of the library is also reduced from 27 to 10 which also is a problem.

The library was made by Maharaja Fateh Singh Mewar in 1887, then known as Victoria Hall and had vast collections of books on archeology and history. It was a library along with a museum opened only for the privileged families.

On 12^th March 1951 it was opened for the general public. It now consists of one lac books on all the subjects including 26,215 books in the RPL section, 3,800 books in kids section and the rest of the books are in other sections of the library. Of the one lac books more than 3000 books belong to pre independence era. It has a huge space and good sitting arrangement and is given a heritage look.

The library administration has suggested various measures to the State Government to increase membership. They have put forward their opinion that the library should remain open on all the 7 days of the week for 24 hours and if not 24 hours then the old timings of 8 am to 8 pm should be restored. They are also of the opinion that membership of one person be made free if any visitor of the reading department enrolls as a member.

The administration has given a proposal to the Language and Library Department of the State Government at Jaipur to start a mobile library. The members can make a list of the books they want and the library staff will deliver the books at their homes and collect if after 14 days (no of days a member can issue a book for).

Report and Photos by Sohail Khan