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RATAN TATA LIBRARY Delhi University Library System |
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Delhi School of Economics University of Delhi Delhi-110 007 |
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INTRODUCTION |
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The Delhi School of Economics (DSE) was established in 1949 as an institution for advanced studies and research in Economics and allied disciplines at the initiative of Professor V.K.R.V. Rao. In 1952, a formal registered body under the name of Delhi School of Economics Society was formed and the Delhi School of Economics became one of its components. The DSE Society constituted a Governing Body for the administration of the School. The School had thereafter a mixed status, functioning both as the University Department of Economics and Commerce and as an Institute of national and international importance. Its funds also came both from the University budget for its activities as a Department and from the funds collected by the Society from other sources. In 1956, the School moved into its own new building which was built out of donations received from private sources and partly with assistance given by the University Grants Commission. In 1959, the University established a Department of Sociology and a Department of Human Geography. Both of these were formed as part of the School. In 1967, the University established a separate Department of Commerce which also formed part of the School. In May 1993, a new Faculty of Commerce and Business Studies was established with Commerce as a Department. The responsibility of general administration and problems common to all the departments located in the DSE is entrusted to the Director who is appointed for the purpose by the Vice Chancellor from among the Professors in the Departments of Economics, Geography and Sociology according to seniority for a period of three years by rotation. The departments of Economics and Sociology in the Delhi School of Economics have been recognized by the UGC as Centers for Advanced Studies in Economic History and Economic Development, and Sociology respectively. RATAN TATA LIBRARY The Delhi School of Economics Society received a benefaction of Rs One Lakh from the Ratan Tata Trust for its Library. That is how the name Ratan Tata Library of Delhi School of Economics came to stay. Subsequently in 1989, the Ratan Tata Trust gave a grant of Rs. 2 Lakhs to meet partly the cost of adding an annexe to the Library building which was completed in 1986 at a cost of Rs. 6 Lakhs. The addition of the new block enabled the library to consolidate the holdings of periodicals. The ground floor, incl. mezannine houses the back files of periodicals and in the first floor current issues of periodicals are kept and displayed. This floor also serves as an exclusive reading room for current periodicals and serials. In 1992 the Government of Netherlands, as part of its world wide effort in international cooperation bestowed a benefaction of Dutch Guilders 80,000/- including as endowment of Dutch Guilders 43,750/- (App. Rs.9,50,000) for reading materials to establish Prof. Sukhamoy Chakravarty Study Room in Ratan Tata Library in memory of Late Prof. Sukhamoy Chakravarty. The Ministry of Finance, Government of India has bestowed endowments of Rs. 7 Crores to the Delhi School of Economics between 1994 to 2004 for the maintenance of journals collection and modernization of the Ratan Tata Library. And further, an additional corpus of Rs. 7 Crores has been granted by the Ministry of Finance, GOI in March 2012. With a modest beginning in 1949, very valuable additions to the collection of the RTL were made by Dr. V.K.R.V. Rao�s personal efforts. He secured gifts of books and back numbers of periodicals from the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; the Institute of Pacific Relations, New York; the New School of Social Research, New York; the Royal Institute of International Affairs, London; the British Library of Political and Economic Sciences, London; and the National Book Centre, London. A grant of two thousand dollars from the state Department of United States was used for the purchase of books from that country. This was the nucleus around which the Ratan Tata Library has grown. Prof.B. N. Ganguli who later became Vice Chancellor of University of Delhi (1967-1969) was the first one to look after the RTL during its formative years (Dharma Kumar & Dilip Mookherjee: D. School. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1995. p 14-15). The RTL is one of the best libraries in Social Sciences in the country considering the collections it has. The Ratan Tata Library became a part of the University Library in 1957, when the Delhi School of Economics ceased to be an autonomous institution and its management was taken over by the University of Delhi. The Ratan Tata Library now serves post-graduate students, research scholars and faculty members of the University and its affiliated Colleges in the above mentioned disciplines. Besides the regular members, scholars from India and abroad visit the Library for varying periods and make use of its valuable resources. The total collection of the library, at present, is about 3.25 Lakhs, including books, bound volumes of periodicals, government reports, documents of international organizations and electronic databases. The Library has been designated as a depository of publications brought out by the United Nations and International Organizations like FAO, ILO, IMF, IBRD, GATT etc. The Library has also exchange agreement with about 70 institutions all over the world and receives publications in exchange of Indian Economic Review & Occasional Papers (Economics). In addition to the Ratan Tata Library, the books and periodicals resources of various libraries situated in and outside Delhi are made available to the members of the RTL through DELNET. |
The Ratan Tata Library, University of Delhi, Delhi - 110007 (India)