British Library completes 25 years

The British Library in Ahmedabad has completed 25 years on Saturday.

The library was opened on March 20, 1979, with strong initiative from then prime ministers Morarji Desai in India and James Callaghan in the UK.

"The British Library in Ahmedabad has, for the last 25 years, been a lively testament to the British Council's commitment to the people of Gujarat and of this great commercial and cultural city," said Paul Smith, director, west

India, British Council, Mumbai, while speaking at the Ahmedabad centre on Saturday.

The library was opened in 1979 with a stock of 10,000 books and 2,000 members and a few periodicals and newspapers.

At present, the library is fully automated with over 6,000 members from the student and professional community of Ahmedabad.

Apart from lending books, the library has internet access, an English Language Learning Zone (ELLZ), information on studying in the UK, British movies in DVD and a children's library.

The library also has online services for members to access from their home and office personal computers. These services provide access to over 4,000 journals on several subjects including management, design and information technology.

The silver jubilee celebration of the library included launch of a book, 'British Samkalin Navo Faal', which is a Gujarati translation from 'New writing Seven'.

'British Samkalin Navo Faal' has been edited by Digesh Mehta, Rajendra Jadeja and Jayant Parekh.

A musical evening with DJ Suketu from Mumbai was organised at Gujarat Sports Club.