Sayaji Vaibhav Public Library

The Establishment of Sayaji Vaibhav Public Library

The library was established in 1898, in the current Madhumati colony area by the prosperous Maharaja Sayajirao Gayakwad of Vadodara. Before that a small library named “Sarvajanik Reading Room” had started in 1878. In 1898, both these were amalgamated at the Laxman Hall and jointly “Shri Sayaji Vaibhav Sarvajanik Pustakalaya” was established. In 1907, on the appeal of the then Suba Rao Bahadur Govindbhai Hathibhai Desai, Maharaja Sayajirao Gayakwad allotted the fund surplus from Maharaja Sayajirao’s silver jubilee celebration fund. The library was built in 1910 at the cost of Rs.8100 on the land gifted by the inheritors of Gokaldas Narsinhdas Parekh, Khushaldas Narsinhdas Parekh and Ramdas Shivdas Modi.

The library was declared open for the readers in 1911. In 1910, the old building of the library was built. Thereafter, a new hall was built on the occasion of 75 years celebration of the institution. In 1973, 3100 sq. ft. construction was done on the occasion of the 75 years celebration of the institution. A part of the north-east side of the library was damaged in the earthquake in 2001. Thereafter, approximately 10,000 sq. ft. construction of first and second floors was done and this new building was inaugurated at the pious hands of Swami Sachchidanand on May 20th, 2007.

Collection of Books in Sayaji Vaibhav Public Library

There is a vast treasure of around 88,000 books in various Indian languages like Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, Urdu, Sindhi, Sanskrit and English. Besides, 185 magazines on subjects like general knowledge, politics, music, performing arts, religion, sculpture, science, astrology, commerce, philosophy, theology, environment and those that are useful to women and children have been subscribed by the library. The library has almost 10,000 books on Gandhian literature donated by the family of Shri Lallubhai Makanji Patel. There is a collection of countless, exceptional and priceless books in the library. Books on subjects like philosophy, religion, science, literature, children’s literature, travel, geography, economics, history and biographies are available to the readers. Books and magazines in Gujarati, Hindi, English, Marathi, Sindhi and other languages are available here for reading.

Audio-Visual Section in Sayaji Vaibhav Public Library

The library also has a separate audio – visual section which was inaugurated in the year 1993. Around 227 video cassettes and 425 CDs/SVDs produced by reputed institutions like UGC, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), ET & T, BBC, National Geographic, Encyclopaedia Britannica, World of Survival, etc. are available here. Around 400 audio cassettes including the voices of J. Krishnamurthy, Rajneesh, Swami Sachchidanand, Morari Bapu and the best litterateurs and writers of Gujarat are also available here. Various reference books like Encyclopedia, Dictionary, Subject Dictionary, Thesaurus, Gazetteers, Guide Book, Atlas and Maps, etc. are kept separately for the facility of the readers. A sub – committee has also been appointed to choose which books need to be purchased or subscribed for the library. Public demand and feedback is also taken into consideration while the choice of books is being made.

In order to catch the readers’ attention, new arrivals are arranged and exhibited separately in an attractive show-case. The books have been classified in the library according to the decimal system. There is an open access system in the library so that the reader can find the book himself. The books are arranged mainly according to the subjects. Here, priority has been given to language divisions. The facility of Reading Room is provided day and night to those students who do not have the facility of reading at home. The library has been computerized on the basis of modern and easy software. All the books can be searched on the basis of subject, author or title.

Sections of Sayaji Vaibhav Public Library

There are various sections in the library which makes it convenient for the reader to choose his particular section. Some of them are

The Children's Section

The institution has a wonderful Children’s Section. There are total 16780 books in the Children’s Section. An environment where children enjoy is created and necessary educational charts, models, toys, tools improving intelligence skills, games and modern educational equipments are made available here. Moreover, furniture suitable to children is also arranged here.

The Women's Section

In order to increase women’s interest in reading and to make books of their interest easily available, a separate Women’s Section has been started.

The Electronic Section

The book has been evolving in today’s electronic age. Information is available in different types of media, wherein electronic medium is the chief one. Along with the audio-visual section, a library for CD-ROM's and various compact discs has also been started. Besides, the facility of T.V., tape recorder, DVD player is also made available in the library itself to watch/listen to the cassettes. CD's/DVDs along with multimedia kits of various encyclopaedia are also available here.

The Career Corner

A separate career corner has also been started for providing information on career guidance and choice to the students, wherein, literature related to that subject is available.

Over the past century and a half, the Sayaji Vaibhav Library has made an immense contribution in making Navsari a city of well read people. It is due to these efforts that is has been awarded the Shri Motibhai Amin Granthalay Seva Paritoshik Certificate (Award for best library in the state) for a record five times in 1983, 1993, 2001, 2006 and 2007. Another unique feature of the library is the ‘My Favourite Book’ talk which is held every Saturday. Every Saturday of the month is dedicated to different age groups (First Saturday: Youth; Second: Women; Third: Children and Fourth: Elders).

Address:
Sayaji Vaibhav Library
Sayaji Library Rd
Madhumati Colony
Navsari, GJ 396445

The library has been one of the most iconic places of Navsari and will always continue to remain so considering the legacy it will carry forward to the coming generations!