Utkarsha Muley
@UtkarshaMuley
Nashik: Jorge Luis Borges once said, “I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library”. That paradise can be experienced in Nashik by visiting the Sarvajanik Vachnalaya Nashik (SVN) or in simple terms the historically famous public library of Nashik.
A symbol of cultural heritage and history, SVN is the oldest public library in Maharashtra founded in 1840 during British rule in India. It was started as a library but played an important role in the cultural, literary development of our society. It became a cultural icon of Nashik.
The library was founded in 1840, no one knows exactly who started the library but it is believed that some government officials and missionaries together started the library. It was originally located at Sarkarwada because all government offices during British India were located in Sarkarwada in Nashik.
The name of the library also has its history. The name has been evolved over the years as per the officials’ records of that period shows that the library has various names. It was called ‘Nashik City Library’, ‘Nashik Library and Reading Room’, ‘Nashik General Library’. The current name Sarvajanik Vachnalaya Nashik was decided around the 1920s.
Many eminent personalities have been affiliated with SVN like Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Kusumagraj alias V V Shirwadkar, Dr. A.W. Verty and others.
Yashwantrao Chavan the first chief minister of Maharashtra played a very important role in the development of the library post-independence. He provided financial assistance to the library which was used to build the current building of the library. This is why the SVN was shifted from Sarkarwada to its current location that is Tilak Road, Shalimar in 1968.
“It is a very big library with around more than one lakh books and the whole library computerized”, said BG Waugh a member of the board of directors of SVN.
He said that to preserve old books and also to have more book titles they have started a digital library so that all the books are available online in digital format but the process has been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The library was started long back and as urbanization spread, the city has developed and there is an increase in both area and population of the city. The SVN has made sure this does not become an obstacle for people.
The library has its branch at Gangapur Road. It is a garden library at Savtantrya Sainik G. H Deshpande Garden.
The SVN has also started an interesting initiative. It’s called ‘The Library on Wheels’.
This initiative was started as an alternative to opening various branches in different areas of the city as a single branch is not sufficient given the spate of urbanization of Nashik.
“Under this initiative, books are home delivered to people. People can notify us and demand which books they want and accordingly, we send the book to their home. This was started to encourage more people to use the library”, said Waugh.
This initiative is still in progress.
“Under this initiative library members living in areas like Nashik Road or Satpur which are far away from the library would be benefited. The library van would reach that area on the specified date so that they can exchange their books and there is no need to travel so far” added Yogini Joshi, a member of the board of directors of SVN.
The SVN has various departments where books for specific readership are available.
This section was started to encourage children to read and develop the hobby of reading. The library provides a range of books for different categories which include education like science, medicine to various books of children’s fiction. In order to encourage more children to read books the books are displayed on the bookcase and they can check them out on their own.
“We had organized ‘Let’s Read Happily’ (Anandane wachu ya) to encourage reading among school children and 900 students participated in this workshop”, said Yogini.
The most amazing part of SVN is its Sanskrit section. Many scholars and researchers visit this section. The main reason to visit is research on ancient manuscripts and texts. The SVN is home to numerous rare ancient manuscripts and texts. There are around 10 thousand such manuscripts.
“We have completed the digitization process of all these manuscripts and ancient texts so that they can be preserved as they represent our history and culture” added Yogini.
While preparing for exams one of the most needed for students is a quiet, peaceful place where they can concentrate to study for their exam. This need is also addressed by SVN. It provides a study room facility. The number of students enrolled to use this facility is around 500 and this number keeps increasing. SVN strives that more students get the benefit of this facility and would keep working despite the space crunch.
Yogini said, “As per the government guidelines we were forced to close the study facility of our library in March 2020. We reopened it considering the student’s demand as exams dates were announced and how its closure was affecting their education in October 2020 with taking all precautions necessary to avoid the spread of Covid-19.”
Along with this, the library has a reference section that contains reference books required for students of all streams like arts or science for most of the courses Savitribai Phule Pune University offers.
SVN is not just a city public library but is also a cultural spot of the city. Since it was established SVN has organized various cultural activities for people. These activities are for all people in society be it, literary scholars or laymen. A book lover and enthusiastic to someone who prefers drama. All forms of events are organized and many people not only from the city but across the state are part of them.
There are various activities and programs organized throughout the year. There are various competitions organized for children like quiz completion, poetry. There is a children’s drama competition like ‘Pavshali Kavita Gayan’, storytelling, elocution, handwriting, etc are some of the activities organized for children. They are fun and also help in the all-around development of the personality of children.
Sane Guruji Kathamala was started by SVN to have organized activities, especially for children. There are various competitions, workshops organized for children every year.
BG Waugh said that the SVN library organized special Vyakhyanmala (lectures series) on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary. Various scholars of Gandhian thoughts were invited. This series was conducted on one speaker every month. Various eminent personalities from Maharashtra have come to speak on Mahatma Gandhi like Tushar Gandhi, Kumar Ketkar.
Apart from this Vyakhyanmala (lecture series) are organized on regular basis. He said that all eminent national figures’ birth and death anniversaries are celebrated.
Many programs are organized in Aurangabadkar Hall. These are private events conducted for the staff and members only. Along with this, the hall is also rented out to hold various other programs.
The programs, workshops, and various other activities held by SVN for the public got cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Some of them later were organized using the online platform; many of them were forced to cancel.
“We conducted some programs online, like a Vyakhyanmala (lecture series) ‘Shabta Jagar Bhetuya Gharo Ghari’ was organized last year amid the pandemic. Various speakers took part like Ashok Khande, Appa Tilak, Sharad Pongshe, etc.”, said Yogini.
She added that the most popular among these speeches was the one delivered by Dr Dhanajya Kelkar. He is Pune based physician and he spoke about how to face the Covid-19 pandemic, its positive and negative aspects on our lives. Around 300 people attended it.
Apart from this many other events were organized for people using the zoom on various occasions like Shahu Maharaj Jayanti etc.
They organize poetry reading, group discussions on books. The book friends club is meant for introducing various books to readers who don’t have time due to busy city life. A person who has done detailed study is invited to introduce the books.
The SVN has its drama section. This section also has its theatre called Pashuram Saikhedkar Theatre. The purpose of the theatre is to make available a platform easily so that various dramas can be staged for the public. Also, as a part of the drama section, state-level drama competition is organized every year.
“To keep alive the one of the least popular courses in Library science. It’s a dying field. To encourage students to take this course and make it easily available to interested students the SVN has affiliated with Yashwantrao Chauhan Open University (YCOU) and conducts B.lib and M.lib courses,” said Waugh.
The cultural and historical symbol of Nashik located in the heart of the city stands tall and continues to bridge the gap among people and connects them irrespective of their age with a single thread of love for books.
