Union minister for culture and tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said on Wednesday that public libraries must combine cultural preservation with technological advancement to expand access to India’s literary, historical and cultural resources.
The initiative aims to encourage students to explore India’s history, culture, literature and scientific traditions. During the event, the library administration announced a Delhi-wide school outreach programme to connect with 1,050 schools and around 1,000,000 students through quizzes and reading activities.
The library will also launch a project titled “Gyan Rath” to promote digital literacy, responsible artificial intelligence (AI) awareness and technology-enabled library services through a mobile library initiative. Shekhawat said public libraries play a vital role in preserving India’s intellectual heritage and making it accessible to future generations.
The library currently functions under the administrative control of the Union Ministry of Culture. Delhi Public Library was established in 1951 by the then Ministry of Education, Government of India, with financial and technical assistance from UNESCO. It was inaugurated by India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, on October 27, 1951. The library buildings were acquired between 1951 and 1953, and operations were formally transferred from UNESCO to the Indian government in 1955. Dr Sumeet Bhasin, chairman of the Delhi Library Board, said the library had spent the past 75 years making knowledge accessible to people across social and economic backgrounds.
“Public libraries must evolve beyond conventional book-lending services to become dynamic centres of learning, research, cultural exchange and community participation,” he said.
