The New Conservation Laboratory, a joint initiative undertaken by the Rotary Club of Bombay and Asiatic Library, will soon be inaugurated
The New Conservation Laboratory at the Asiatic Library
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For the past year-and-a-half, something has been brewing at the Asiatic Library located at Fort. It was the formation of a New Conservation Laboratory — a project jointly undertaken by the Rotary Club of Bombay and the library — solely dedicated to restoring old and ancient books of significant historical Indian value. Finally, after spending more than a year-and-a-half in the pipeline, it will be inaugurated by both parties this Tuesday.
The funding of the project stands at R25 lakh, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Bombay. "One of the major areas that we found we could contribute to was in the restoration of old books," said Vineet Suchanti (47), a Rotary Club member and investment banker by profession, who has been part of the 30-member Urban Heritage Renewal Committee of the Rotary Club of Bombay since it was formed two years back.
The project was jointly undertaken by the Rotary Club of Bombay and the Asiatic Library. Pics/Satej Shinde
Its objective: to partner with the Asiatic Society to help with the restoration of ancient books, as well as increase the visibility of this prestigious Mumbai landmark. According to Vineet, the aim of the New Conservation Laboratory is to increase the shelf life of particular books that were of historical significance in the Indian context.
Special books have special needs
"We have built a brand new conservation laboratory so that the capacity to restore books becomes twice than what it is right now," said Vineet. "The lab is like a photo-processing studio, spanning over 700 square feet within the Asiatic Library itself that needs to be constantly air-conditioned. It also requires specific types of tables with a certain type of surface to process these books on."
"The old books need to be removed page by page and then chemically treated," points out Rohan Dalal (51), another Rotary member who is been on the Urban Heritage Renewal Committee. "There is also a drying rack for these pages. A specially imported Japanese parchment paper will be used to carry out the restoration process."
Apart from increasing the total number of books that can be restored, Vineet also pointed out that the most critical thing was to "conserve rare century-old books, that would, if not conserved properly, undergo significant deterioration. "This move will preserve the literature and heritage of the holding of Asiatic Society," said Vineet.
With less and less people even aware about this historical library, the fact that an effort is being made to preserve the books it holds, shows that books are not dead — not in Mumbai city, anyway. Authorities at the library refused to comment on the New Conservation Laboratory.
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