The Delhi Public Library is all set to go hi-tech today with the inauguration of internet services. The library opens 10 computer workstations for its members today, with plans to double the number according to the need. Apart from free high-speed internet surfing, the library will also offer DVDs and CDs that can be borrowed by its members.

Inaugurated by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in 1951, the 57-year-old library today boasts a membership of over 45,000, with more than 1.5 million books available at the Central Library alone. The Delhi Public Library (DPL) offers free membership to citizens of Delhi and provides mobile library services as well as a prison library service to Tihar Jail. The library has a special Braille section for the visually challenged.

The DPL is being totally revamped, including a new look for the children’s section. So visiting this library need no loner mean roaming through damp alleys of musty bookshelves. In fact, with the summer vacations approaching, this could be a whole new world for children to explore, with new comics, picture books, information books and of course story books.

The DPL also offers its services to Residents’ Welfare Associations across the city to set up their own libraries or have the mobile library van visit the area. The DPL already has branches in over 26 locations across Delhi and 21 Residential Colony Libraries.

The DPL is not only the largest public library system in India, it is the busiest library in all of South East Asia. With so much history and a host of new offerings, Delhi Public Library is definitely worth a visit, if not an application for membership.