Timeless tomes: AU Hindi dept library gifted 1,000 rare books
DONATING THE BOOKS TO DEPARTMENTAL LIBRARIES AND THE CENTRAL LIBRARY IS ALMOST A TRADITION IN THIS 134-YEAR-OLD UNIVERSITY.
PRAYAGRAJ: The library of Allahabad University’s department of Hindi has received a valuable gift in the shape of a rare collection of around 1,000 books. The family members of former department head, Late Ramswaroop Chaturvedi, donated the rare books and magazines from his personal library.
Donating the books to departmental libraries and the central library is almost a tradition in this 134-year-old university. The central library of AU has received around 1,500 books as donation in the last two years alone, many of which are now out of print. These rare collections of books have been donated by publishers, family members of former teachers and even serving faculty members of AU, officials said.
Known in the world of Hindi literature as a critic par excellence, Ramswaroop Chaturvedi was the head of the department from 1986 to 1991. Born on May 6, 1931, the eminent scholar breathed his last on July 24, 2003.
The present head of the department, Prof Kripa Shankar Pandey thanked the family of Prof Chaturvedi for their invaluable contribution.
The central library of AU too has been receiving donations, in the form of books, from various publications, government agencies, authors, former and present teachers etc.
“Former teachers of AU and their family members have been kind enough to donate books to our library, of which some of the collections are quite rare and hard to find in the market. This has immensely contributed in making this library ‘rich’ as some of the donated books are out of print and very rare,” said AU central library librarian BK Singh.
Detailing some important ‘gifts’ that the central library has received in the past two years, Singh informed that the collection of books belonging to former faculty member of the department of English, Krishna Chandra, was gifted by his family member. These include around 300 books, most in very good condition.
Likewise, Prof D Mandal, a former faculty member of the department of Ancient History of AU, donated 82 books. The central library also received the personal collection of K N Mukherjee who gifted 396 books.
Similarly, the present Arts dean Heramb Chaturvedi has gifted 130 books, the Gayatri Parivar 158 books, former officiating vice chancellor and former Education department HoD KS Mishra has gifted 26 books, former Zoology department faculty member Anita Gopesh has donated 225 books to the central library in just the past few years.