EVOLUTION OF ACADEMIC LIBRARY AND ITS SERVICES IN DIFFERENT ERA IN INDIA: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

The history of libraries is closely associated with human civilization. From the ancient days libraries existed in India and those are mainly academic libraries like Nalanda, Taxila, Vikramashila. The concept of libraries in modern world has changed from royal palace in ancient period to libraries without wall which can be accessed remotely from anywhere at any time. However, the libraries did not get the present state and shape in one day. With the changes of the civilization, the libraries has also changed its shape, collections and services. The medium of reading, the way of disseminating information, infrastructure -all changed with the advent of different era. The material on which the human thought is inscribed changes from clay tablet to tab. In ancient time, it was clay tablet, parchment, papyrus roll, palm leave. In medieval period, it was palm leave or parchment and in modern period with the invention of paper and printing, printed books replaced those previous ones. After that microform came, but now those entire medium are replaced very fast by the digital one. The ownership of library has also changed from royal palace and private library to public library. The services has also transformed from preservation to dissemination of information. The knowledge became accessible, sharable and open to all. The present paper deals with a comparative study of the predominant characteristics of libraries especially academic libraries in India in different eras. This article describes the evolutionary changes the academic library gone through in different time periods, which can be broadly divided into ancient, medieval and modern. In ancient India, the biggest known university, the Nalanda University became a renowned seat of learning, its fame spreading beyond the boundaries of India. During the Medieval period, due to foreign invasions and political troubles, the higher education and the development of academic libraries were affected, though the powerful emperors patronized libraries in their own palaces. Monastery libraries also started to develop in the early middle ages. In modern India, during the British rule, number of academic libraries were established by the East India Company, and by the Christian missionaries. A huge change occurred in the structure, medium and collection of academic libraries in pre and post-independent India.