The Library is said to be the very centre of the academic life of a college. It plays a very important role in the college career of a student. However, it can be of greatest value only if the student knows what the library contains and how to find and make use of the wealth of knowledge found there. Established in 1914, the library of Isabella Thoburn College is presently housed in the Sarah Chakko Memorial Library which was built in 1959 and named after our late Principal Miss. Sarah Chakko. It is an imposing crescent shaped, double storied building with a world of knowledge housed in it, waiting to be explored by the students.There are approximately 57,000 volumes in the college library, which works under the open shelf system. This means that you are able to, at leisure, browse through the collection of books before making a choice of reading material. Departmental libraries are an additional facility for our students. The college also subscribes to a number of journals and magazines for the general library and for different departments.The attractive Browsing Room, known as the Janet Bonarji Library, is on the ground floor of the Library. It houses a few books gifted by Mr. and Mrs. D.N. Bonarji in 1932.
JANET BONARJI LIBRARY
The collection has grown to over 2500 volumes of all classifications. Special among the book collection are those pertaining to collections of paintings and objects of fine art at the famous galleries and museums of the world. The Janet Bonarji Library provides a beautiful and a quiet atmosphere in which a student can enjoy what is of cultural value. Besides books, there are on display, rare objects of art from different countries and periods.The basement of the Janet Bonarji Library houses the Exhibition room for book displays and other library related activities.A Library Orientation Programme is conducted at the beginning of the academic year. During this time the new students are introduced to the resources of the Library with a special emphasis on the use of the Card Catalogue, Reserve shelf, Book Bank, Reference Books and their uses.To promote learning a Trust fund, founded in 1991 in memory of Mrs. Bimla Nigam, an alumna of the College, enables the college to purchase books in certain disciplines each year.Every student enrolled in the College is required to become a member of the college library by filling in a library Membership Card and submitting two recent passport size photographs. Internet services are also being provided in the Library.The Library membership card is non-transferable. At the end of the academic year every student is required to return her Library Card to the library and get a No-dues certificate.
Internet services are also being provided in the Library. There is a separate Computer Gallery on first floor to use the computers and access digital information. The library has been digitized partially and SOUL (a library software) is being used to manage the housekeeping operations of the library. The library is also a member of INFLIBNET (Information & Library Network) and NDL (National Digital Library). The resources of INFLIBNET and NDL are being accessed by the students and faculty.
NLIST-INFLIBNET
The Central Library, Isabella Thoburn College, Lucknow holds the membership of NLIST-INFLIBNET (Information & Library Network), Gandhinagar, Gujarat since 2011. NLIST-INFLIBNET provides 6,000+ e-journals and 31,35,000+ e-books. The students and faculty of college are accessing the facility to access the e-journals, e-books, e-articles and full text downloadable.
NDL (National Digital Library)
In 2017, the college library has also received the membership of NDL (National Digital Library) of India Project, Central Library (ISO-9001:2008 Certified), Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India. It provides different types of digital contents including books, articles, videos, audios, thesis and other educational materials such as e-books; e-articles; e-thesis; Audio lectures. There are video lectures; more than 7.0 lakhs books, 3.0 lakhs articles, 95000 + thesis and more than 262 audio lectures and 18000 video lectures.