Teen Murti House also houses a specialized Library which has been designed and developed as a specific research and reference centre on colonial and post-colonial India with its very rich and varied collection of books, journals, photographs and other resource materials on microfilm and microfiche.
Open to bonafide researchers on payment of a nominal fee, the Library offers valuable opportunities for doing advanced research and reference work on social sciences, with an emphasis on modern Indian history.
Its relevance is augmented by the archives of rare non-official research materials; an Oral History Project to record the reminiscences of the makers of modern India and the NMML's Centre for Contemporary Studies, which awards Fellowships for exploring new areas and issues of research in social science.
Over the last four decades, scholars on modern and contemporary history have found the institution almost indispensable for carrying out their research. A cursory glance on the acknowledgements appearing in books on modern Indian history is a testimony to this reality. It is the biggest repository in the country for microfilmed newspapers and collections of private papers of eminent individuals as well as of non-official social and political organizations. The manuscript and newspaper collections in NMML run into millions of pages.
The holdings of the Library cover a wide range of subjects and aspects related to modern and contemporary history, roughly covering the period from the eighteenth century onwards up to the present times.
The collections are enormous and diverse ranging from books, journals, photographs, periodicals, newspapers, private papers and oral history records. Currently, the Library maintains a collection of more than 2.5 lakh printed books; over 1.5 lakh photographs related to Jawaharlal Nehru and the Indian freedom movement and around 8,000 audio tapes.
Regular purchase of printed material and donations by various individuals and institutions help NMML update and expand the holdings of its Library continually.
The Library has grouped its holdings of published works about Jawaharlal Nehru and on issues and subjects related to him under the heading 'Nehruana'. This collection of published books concerning Nehru has his writings; numerous collections of his correspondence and speeches; academic works relating to diverse aspects of his life, thought, politics and leadership.
Similar collections have been prepared for Mahatma Gandhi under the head 'Gandhiana' and for Indira Gandhi under the title 'Indirana'.
Additionally, the Library houses an extensive collection of documents on microfilm rolls and microfiche plates in the Microfilm Section. The newspapers, periodicals and private papers dating back to the year 1838 are available on approximately 18,500 microfilm rolls. Other rare documents are available on more than 51,322 microfiche plates in this section.
Journals and periodicals are housed in a separate Periodicals Section within the Library, which currently maintains a collection of 503 journals in English, Hindi and other regional languages.
The Photographs Section housed within the Library, possesses an impressive collection of photographs of the freedom movement in India and national leaders of the pre and post independence periods. This collection currently stands around 1,76,264 photographs and negatives of another one lakh images.
In the past few years, the Library has also built up a collection of published works on north-east India.
With the increase in acquisition of photographs, schemes of classification and cataloguing were devised in-house for speedy retrieval of photographs with captions for reference and use of scholars.
Apart from being utilized for different exhibitions held in the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, the photographs are being used increasingly by newspapers, authors, publishers and various government and non-official agencies for multiple purposes including exhibitions, documentaries and television programmes.
