Maharaja Harendra Kishore Public Library is a

depository library Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their publications to a repository, usually a library. The number of copies required varies from country to country. Typically, the national library is the primary reposit ...

Bettiah Bettiah is a city and administrative headquarters of West Champaran district ( Tirhut Division) - (Tirhut), near Indo-Nepal border, north-west of Patna, in Bihar state of India. History In 1244 A.D., Gangeshwar Dev, a Bhumihar Brahmin of ...

West Champaran district West Champaran is an administrative district in the state of Bihar in India, located just west of Birgunj. It is the largest district in Bihar with an area of 5,228 km²(2,019sq mi). It is a part of Tirhut Division. The district headquarte ...

in the Indian state of Bihar. It was established in 1905 as ''Victoria Memorial Library'' and was renamed to its present name, ''Maharaja Harendra Kishore Public Library'' on Maharaja Sir Harendra Kishore Singh's birthday in 1955. The library functions under the

Government of Bihar The Government of Bihar, known locally as the State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Bihar and its 9 divisions which consist of 38 districts . It consists of an executive, led by the Governor of Bihar, a jud ...

and development activities are carried by the Digital Empowerment Foundation and the

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was l ...

. The District Education Officer (DEO) serves as the president of the library. Presently, Mr. Lalan Jha is the president of the library. On 21 February 2013, ''Maharaja Harendra Kishore District Public Library Resource Center'' was established as an initiative of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Gates Global Library Project by the state government of Bihar with the help of Digital Empowerment Foundation.

History

Maharaja Harendra Kishore Public Library was established in 1905 as ''Victoria Memorial Library'' and continued to function at ''Chitragupta Maidan'' in Bettiah from 1905 to 1934. In 1936, the library was shifted to the land of Bettiah Raj following the earth quake in 1934. In 1955, on Bettiah Raj last king Maharaja Sir Harendra Kishore Singh's birthday, the library was renamed from ''Victoria Memorial Library'' to its present name, ''Maharaja Harendra Kishore Public Library'' and a statue of the king was established in the library premises. It was promoted to the status of the library of sub-division by the state government of Bihar in 1958. In 1980, the library was promoted to the status of "central district library".

Infrastructure

The library is established in an area of 1.45 acre and surrounded by boundary. It has four princely hall rooms comprising three depository rooms, one reading room, one office and one bathroom. There is a stage made in the east, which is used to host cultural functions and various other programs.

Vision

* To avail rural people free access to information resources and services. * To effectively manage the district public library harnessing benefit of development of the digital catalog system. * To make functional access to the

information and communication technology Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) and computers, ...

in the district public library.

Facility

* ''Internet'' - The library provides internet access to its members to read national/international news paper online and to online submit application forms. * ''Printing/Scanning/Photocopy'' - Printing, scanning and photocopy services are available to the registered members of the library. * ''IT Training'' - The library also provides Information Technology training to the local population. * ''Career Counselling'' - The library provides career counselling to the youth of the city and around on various vocational and higher education studies.

Membership

Any person that is native of India is eligible to be a member of the library.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Public libraries in India Libraries in Bihar West Champaran district Libraries established in 1905 1905 establishments in India