District Mahima Library, Nahan

Origin

Nahan is the district headquarter of Sirmour district of Himachal Pradesh. The Sirmour region was an independent state bofore independence and has a long history. It starts with legends dating back to around 1050 AD. Many rulers replaced with time and many capitals were changed i.e. Neri, Gargah and Kalsi etc. The preseent capital at Nahan was founded in 1621 AD by Karam Prakash. The long rule of rajas was dependent on the personal traits and abilities of the ruler. This continued till British intervention in the region on invitation from the wife of a incompetent ruler around 1815 AD. After that the Britishers decided the rulers. The subsequent rulers were better educated and they started bringing in many reforms in their adminstration. They were loyal to British and were given high honours for the same. One such ruler Raja Amar Parkash inaugurated Mahima Library, which later became the District Mahima Library, Nahan. The library foundation stone mentions that the library was established by the Queen Mandalsa Kumari Devi in the loving memory of their beloved daughter Princess Mahima Devi who was great lover of learning and books.

Building

The library occupies a beautifully designed and well maintained building. The front of the building is circular in shape with enterence door opening into a small corridor with rooms on both sides. The corridor leads into a row of three reading rooms flanked on both sides with smaller rooms for othe purposes. The Ist room has a big reading table with artistically designed wooden book almirahs on all sides and circulation-cum-reception counter in one corner. The portrait of Princess Mahima hangs above the door leading into the next room. The next room in the row is equally beautifull. A door on the left of this room opens into the newspaper reading room. The next room is last in the row and comparatively wider. It accomodates the Libraran's office, book stacks and reading tables on both sides. This room is flanked by two rooms on both sides. On the left is the reference section and on the right is the children section.

Location

The town of Nahan is around 272 Kms (via Ambala Cantt. & Naraingarh) from national capital New Delhi and 125 Kms (apporx.) from state capital Shimla and 90 Kms from Chandigarh. The average altitude of the town is 932 meters.

The library is located is located a little walk up the hill from the famous Delhi Gate and shares its back wall with that of the Kalistan temple. Its a VIP area with many district administrative offices in the vicinity.

Staff

Collection

The library has a rich collection of more than 50,000+ books in English, Hindi, Punjabi and Sanskrit languages.

The library also maintains special collection of some rare books.

The library subscribes 9 newspapers in 3 languages i.e. English, Hindi and Urdu and around 21 magazines.

The library maintains old newspaper archives for last four years.

Membership

The library has 1526+ registered members till date and of these around 400+ are active.

The library offers membership for a period of 3 years and is renewable thereafter. There is no membership fee, but a refundable security needs to be paid at the time of Ist registration. This secutiry is carried forward during periodical renewals.

Membership Security (Refundable):

• Adults Rs 200
• Children (14 years or below) Rs 50

Automation

The library makes use of 2 pcs for office work but the library services are offered manually.

Working Hours

Apart from the gazetted holidays the library remains closed on every Tuesday and last Saturday of the month. The library timings vary according to the season.

• Summer (I^st April to 30^th September) 11:00 am to 6:00 pm
• Winter (I^st October to 31^st March) 10:00 am to 5:00 pm

Contact

District Mahima Library,
Near Kalistan Mandir,
Nahan (HP)- 173001.
INDIA.
Email: sirmourlibrary1@gmail.com