Lucknow’s 153 Year Old Library Digitized

LUCKNOW, (IANS) – Lucknow’s 153-year-old Amir-ud-Daula library has been fully digitalized.

More than 80,000 digitized books and 27,000 e-magazines are now available free on the library’s website and the content is also available on a mobile app Lucknow Digital Library.

The transformation of the city’s oldest library was made possible under Smart City‘s digitization project at a cost of Rs 1.07 crore.

Now one can simply log in to the free website or the app and get access to the digital library. It also has 1,000 books for competitive exams, 5,000 premium e-books, and 1,000 plus textbooks.

As per records, the library has some rare books like Turkish history (1687), International Policy Essays on the Foreign Relations of England (1884), Modern Hinduism (1887), and Hindu Religion (1899).

Similarly, hundreds of manuscripts in Tadpatra and Bhojpatra in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and Pali, dating back to the 2nd century, have also been digitized.

Librarian Harish Chandra said the Amir-ud-Daula library is an indispensable part of Lucknow’s history and after digitization, it is now available to the world.

“It was established in 1868 by taluqdar Amar Hasan Khan and was part of the government museum and only government officials were allowed. But in 1887, it was opened for students and shifted to the upper part of Lal Baradari. Later, it was moved to Chhoti Chatter Manzil and from there ultimately to the current building in Kaiserbagh in 1921. The foundation stone for the building was laid by Sir H Butler,” he said.

Chandra said before digitization, books, and manuscripts were getting spoiled due to damp conditions because of rainwater seeping in from the roof.