India has a rich heritage of culture and education, as evident from the long lasting impact of foreign imperialism, folk tradition. Indian rulers too had a share of contribution towards empowering its inhabitants with knowledge and learning acumen. Libraries in India thus bears a proof of the orientation of Indians towards education and analytical research. Libraries in India is a repertoire of books providing information and resources of all the possible subjects, be it social sciences, pure scientific theories and disciplines and what not. Traditionally Indian used to gather information by getting hold of the books, articles and other publication. With the advancement of Information technology, CDS, DVDs, too restore valuable data and Indian libraries allot special spaces to store them. In libraries of India, there is a collection of microfilms, capable of recording and storing myriads information like maps, prints etc. E- libraries are in vogue, thereby enabling the net-savvy people to get access via. Internet.

Numerous libraries were built to meet the demands of knowledge seekers as well as the academicians. Broadly, libraries can be categorized in to four heads: National Library, Academic Library, Special Library and Public Library.

The National Library, Kolkata is the biggest library in the Indian subcontinent. It is an organization of importance in the whole of the nation. It was formed under the patronage of `Department of Culture, Ministry of Tourism & Culture, Government of India`. National Science Library, Delhi was formed in the year1964. It is established with the noble goals of getting access to a whole lot of significant publications in Indian science and technology reference material/secondary sources, conferences, workshops, foreign language lexicons and books on therapeutic and scented plants. It has subscriptions to all scientific periodicals and publications of India. It receives over 5,100 Indian and foreign periodicals and also has a vast collections of foreign periodicals and journals on in digital formats. It also has a huge compilation of over 1,90,000 books, specially, books for references, news and principles. Sayajirao Gaekwad Library ,Banaras Hindu University; Khoda Baksh Oriental Library, Patna ;National Medical Library too fall in the categories of national libraries of India.

Among the academic libraries of India, A.C Joshi Library of Punjab University deserves mentioning. Dr. S. Radhakrishnan laid the foundation stone of the new Library building in 1958, the then Vice-President of India. The Library subscribes to about 600 current periodicals, especially those related to mathematics and its related subjects. On line accessibility too is also facilitated to its users.

Specialized libraries are formed to compensate the demands of a huge section of professionals. The central Library of IIT Madras is a significant one. It is storehouse of knowledge of science subjects like engineering, IT technologies, molecular research theories etc. Keeping in track with the modern amenities like on -line databases, microfilms, CD-ROMs. On line databases are maintained to make the library access and hassle free. The aim of this renowned library of India is to provide informations; bibliographical references and digital formatting rightly satisfy the needs and requirements of the scholars and educationists. The library of the Institute aims to be a leading library in the fields of mathematics, statistics, economics, econometrics, operational research and statistical quality control.

Since 1994, the National Board set up by the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, has selected ISI, Delhi Centre library as `regional library for higher mathematics`, to provide service to the educationists and scholars especially those belonging to North India. Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University Library, Guru Jambheshwar University Library, Hindu College Library, New Delhi, IGNOU Library, New Delhi are acclaimed for its services and resources.

Public libraries constitute an important part of libraries of India. Goethals Indian Library & Research Center; Government Oriental Manuscripts Library (GOML) ;SINP Library,Kolkata ;T.S. Center State Library fall into this category.

In Madras, Connemara Public Library has been established in 22nd March of the year 1890. Lord Connemara, the Governor of Madras of the contemporary period, founded it to accomplish the desired requirement for a standard library.

Libraries in India rightly suffice to the requirements of the people, thereby enhancing their knowledge to a great extend.