David Sassoon Library and Reading Room!📚

Today, I will be writing about one of the oldest libraries of Mumbai. This library is known to people as The David Sassoon Library and Reading Room. Sir Albert Sassoon, a prominent member of Mumbai's Baghdadi Jewish community, established the library in 1847. It was started in honor of his father, the well-known industrialist and philanthropist David Sassoon. J. Campbell, a British architect, was responsible for the design of the library building, which was built in the Venetian Gothic style. On November 27, 1870, Sir Philip Wodehouse, the Governor of Bombay, dedicated the library building. The European population in Mumbai was initially supposed to be the only users of the library. The library opened its doors to the general public in 1878, making its materials accessible to individuals from all walks of life. The library has added to its collection throughout the years and now has a huge selection of books, journals, and reference resources. The library has functioned as both an information base and a centre of culture. Numerous literary and cultural occasions, such as book releases, talks, exhibits, and seminars, have taken place there. In order to encourage and promote intellectual and creative endeavours in the city, the library has been extremely important. The Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee awarded the David Sassoon Library building Grade II-A heritage classification in 1990 in appreciation of its historical and aesthetic significance. The David Sassoon Library and Reading Room in Mumbai's Fort district has been open to the public for more than 150 years and has never closed. Covid-19 then appeared. They remained open and let students to enter through the rear entrance even during the 1992 Bombay riots. When I initially moved to Mumbai in 2018, I made my first trip to this library. I had wanted to go here for a very long time after reading about it in a newspaper. So yeah, that day, I was pretty excited to discover it. I had to walk for ten minutes after getting off at Churchgate station to get there. Seeing such a thing in an architectural setting astounded me. It had a retro flavour to it. At the library's entrance, a wooden plaque with the words "The David Sassoon Library and Reading Room, founded in 1847" was hung directly next to two enormous glass doors. I noticed a few wooden tables at the sides as soon as I went inside. A few books from the 18th and 19th centuries were placed there. These books covered the Sassoon dynasty, the Sassoon mechanical institute, and the history of this library. We were free to browse those books as we sat there. As I entered, I noticed a sizable statue of Sir David Sassoon. The white statue looked pretty well against the tan walls. Further, I went into the book stacks section to know more about the types, languages and genres of books kept there. A librarian was there to help everyone out for searching their required book. When asked, he told me that there are over 30,000 books in this library. Majority of those are in English language as the library was historically focused on English literature. Also, we can find numerous books in Hindi, Marathi as well as Gujarati language. There is a wide variety of publications available, including fiction, non-fiction, biographies, reference works, historical, mythological, and many others. Being an Indian Mythology fan, my eyes started searching for such books. As I walked up the stairs, the stairs were covered by book-shelves from both the sides. It was like you are midst a room which has only books and no humans. I went into the main book stack room and was flabbergasted to witness such huge stacks of books. They were almost triple my height. The way all the books were kept as per their genres and languages made it easier to find your needed volume. On surfing through the whole area, I went to look around in the reading room. There were numerous seats available. Even there, the entire room was surrounded by book-shelves. The vibe was seraphic. There were different kind of people sitting and reading. Some were reading newspaper; some were busy in solving puzzles and then some were seated with a whole stack of books for reference. There was a sizable balcony where you could walk about and enjoy the breathtaking view of the Kala-Ghoda street. There was also a clear view of the famous Kala-Ghoda Statue. David Sassoon's entire journey was quite unforgettable for me.

However, it had to shut down when lockdown was implemented in the year 2020. And in June 2023, the David Sassoon Library opened its doors to the general public. Therefore, I had to visit it, of course. When I went there, I discovered that only the reading room was currently open. Since the books are still in the warehouse, the library has not yet been made available. When lockdown was implemented, they had to move every book into that warehouse to take care of them. The caretaker there stated that the library would start in six months. A must visit place for everyone who has keen interest in English literature and history.