Know Your City: Pet project of Sayajirao III, 113-year-old Baroda Central Library continues to stand tall among his legacies

Avid readers and bibliophiles continue to admire the Maharaja for his instrumental role in making the library what it is today. (Express photo by Bhupendra Rana)

Modelled after world’s finest libraries

The two-storeyed building, made of wooden beams, bricks, cement and steel, was modelled after some of the finest libraries in universities across the world. It was designed by English architect Edwin Lutyens in 1910 under the supervision of noted educationist Motibhai Amin. It was in 1931 that the construction of the library, commissioned in 1910, was completed at a cost of Rs 4 lakh, which included the fittings and furniture as well as the books.

Its interiors are divided into four levels and have 352 giant steel racks with two-side shelving facilities that hold 3.5 lakh books in English, Gujarati, Marathi, Hindi, Urdu and Sindhi – the six languages commonly spoken in the erstwhile Baroda state. The flooring in between the steel structure of the second, third and fourth ‘Reference Section’ floors is made up of 719 pieces of imported 19 mm thick Belgium glass plates of various sizes, making for an ethereal walking experience amid the faint but unmistakable whiff of vanilla and cedarwood beneath a layer of the modern indolic smell.

Glass floors to let in light

“In those days, the library did not have electricity, so the flooring was made of glass to ensure that the large windows, that are in the north-to-south orientation, provided bright, natural sunlight and fresh air throughout the day,” says senior clerk Bhavesh Dhonde. The metal frames of the bookshelves were imported from the United States of America and so was the manual pulley-operated 1×1.5 ft elevator used to transport books from the ground to the upper floors. The stacking system in the library, constructed and designed by J Snead and Co Iron Works in the USA, is on par with some of the biggest university libraries in the USA, including the Harvard University library.

The miniature versions of Shakespearean classics as well as 19th-century French poetry miniature which was gifted to Maharaja Sayajirao III on his tour of Europe and America in 1909-10. (Express photo by Bhupendra Rana)

Such was Maharaja’s passion for preserving the library that he ensured that it had fire-proof mica-coated doors to keep the books from harm. That is not all, the bottom part of the bookshelves in each section contains a crevice in which oil could be poured to keep bugs away. Dhonde says, “Since it has been constructed, not a single piece of glass or metal has been replaced. The library stands as it was built… We do not pour the oil into the racks anymore but twice a month, we undertake deep cleaning of the shelves… We also regularly prepare a list of the books that are beyond repair and with the approval of the Library Department in Gandhinagar, they are disposed of like all other scrap paper. However, we have not done away with the books before digitising them.”

The library is home to rare books from the reign of the Gaekwads, including administration records of the erstwhile kingdom from 1934 to 1936, royal books as well as the records of the various Prants (provinces) under the state of Baroda. It has digitised over 1.89 lakh pages of rare books that could not withstand the ravages of time. “Many of these books have never been reprinted. But we thought that it would always be relevant to those who wish to read so we have digitised one lakh pages in PDF format… Those old books, for which reprints are available, are replaced as needed,” Dhonde adds.

A project close to the Maharaja’s heart

The library was a cog in the wheel of Sayajirao III’s larger vision for education in the state of Baroda but it was also a project so close to his heart that the Maharaja also donated to it 20,000 books from his personal collection. Besides, it has a special miniature shelf with versions of classics like Shakespeare’s Othello, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Comedy of Errors as well as a 19th-century French poetry miniature, among others. This collection was gifted to the Maharaja on his tour of Europe and America in 1909-10 that inspired his vision for public libraries. However, owing to their fragile state, the miniatures are not available for reading.

The steel racks, that are divided into four tiers, hold 3.5 lakh books in the six languages spoken in the erstwhile Baroda state. (Express photo by Bhupendra Rana)

Sayajirao III had invited American librarian William Alanson Borden to be the director of the state Department of Libraries on a three-year contract. Borden, whose work in New York had greatly impressed the Maharaja during his USA tour, is credited with designing removable catalogue card drawers at the Baroda Central Library. It was Borden who initially helped set up the Library Department of Baroda state in Sarkarwada on December 12, 1910. Newton Mohan Dutt succeeded Motibhai Amin as curator of libraries in 1914.

Sayajirao III’s library project for Baroda state, under the leadership of Borden, included 45 town libraries and over 100 village libraries. It also included 500 motorised mobile libraries, 85 of which continue running to date with grants from the Central Library. When Borden left after completing his contract, the Maharaja’s personal librarian J S Kudalkar was sent along to New York by ship to learn about the library system. On his return, Kudalkar started a magazine named Library Miscellany in Marathi, Gujarati and English.

“Where mobile libraries could not reach, the Maharaja sent a system with projectors to gather the villagers and make them read books… Today, we do have a declining number of readers for the Urdu and the Sindhi sections but the library has been able to live up to the vision that the Maharaja had for it by bringing in regular readers every day,” Dhonde says.

Keeping history alive

The Central Library in Vadodara is undoubtedly one of the few heritage structures that keep history alive. Even in the digital age, it continues to draw its patrons as it did nearly 100 years ago. The library has a total of 35,880 members, including 2,891 children. The lending section issues a daily average of 1,056 books with the help of now-automated library cards, the system having evolved over the years. On average, 565 persons use the Reference Section every day and 945 students use the reading room daily, the library data shows.

Advocate Jaideep Verma, joint secretary of the Heritage Trust of which Radhikaraje Gaekwad of the royal family is a patron, says, “The Government Library Department has preserved the Central Library of Baroda quite well, we must say. They keep adding books to the collection too. Although they converted a garden in the compound into a reading room, which is a study area available until midnight for students preparing for competitive exams, the main building and library have been retained as it is. The manual lift, which was installed to ferry books, however, is currently not operational and the trust has offered to repair and restore it.”

Avid readers and bibliophiles continue to admire the Maharaja for his instrumental role in making the library what it is today. Kinjal Patel, a student, says, “The Central Library is definitely one of the best in the country. The collection of books as well as the regal ambience cannot be matched. In the digital age too it is the scent and the texture of a hand-held book that can really provide the best reading experience… I have been visiting the library since I was little because my grandfather was a member and would visit the place every morning to bring home a book for his daily reading.”

The library remains open on all days except national holidays. The reference section is closed on Sundays, while the lending section is unavailable on Mondays. New members, who have to pay a refundable deposit of Rs 40 for a lifetime membership, are expected to bring a guarantor’s certificate which could be from a lawyer, doctor, school principal or a gazetted officer. In the absence of a guarantor, an aspiring member can become a self-guarantor by paying a deposit of Rs 100, which is returnable when the membership ends.