A new book revisits the years when Bombay’s working-class libraries were flourishing

Travelling libraries were small, mobile book collections created by the Bombay Social Service League (SSL). They brought reading material to workers who lived in chawls and could not easily use daytime libraries. Their importance lay in taking books directly into working-class neighbourhoods.

Each centre received a box containing 25 to 50 books. After two or three months, the box moved to another centre and a new box arrived. A worker volunteer, or an SSL night-school student or teacher, issued books, recovered them safely, and encouraged reading.

The libraries worked alongside night schools. In 1912–13, the SSL operated 85 centres: 48 Marathi libraries with 2,880 books and 37 Gujarati libraries with 1,929 books. By 1915, it had 105 libraries and 161 issuing centres. Faster circulation was needed because demand exceeded the number of boxes.

The SSL’s second annual report covered September 1912 to May 1913. It recorded 85 travelling libraries, showing a substantial organised effort to bring books beyond established institutions. The libraries were divided by language and served different social groups across Bombay.

There were 48 Marathi libraries holding 2,880 books, and 37 Gujarati libraries holding 1,929 books. Together, the travelling collections contained 4,809 books. The libraries issued 10,100 books to 2,765 readers: 1,462 Deccanies and 1,303 Gujaratis.

The figures also reveal uneven access within the readership. Female readers included 189 Deccanies and 274 Gujaratis, who borrowed 698 and 728 books. Dalit readers included 320 Deccanies and 333 Gujaratis. By 1915, the SSL had expanded to 105 libraries and 161 issuing centres, indicating continuing demand.

The SSL deliberately targeted audiences outside conventional public and private libraries. Its stated priorities were “the middle and low caste females,” “the depressed classes,” and “the backward classes.” This made the libraries socially broad, rather than designed for one community or occupation.

The 85 libraries served Marathi and Gujarati readers. Their audience included Deccanies and Gujaratis, women and men, Dalit readers, millhands, office peons, and petty clerks. Two centres were with Muslims, two with Jews, and three with Parsees. Marathi and Gujarati libraries also operated among women and depressed classes.

The numbers show this diversity. Female readers included 189 Deccanies and 274 Gujaratis. Dalit readers included 320 Deccanies, including 10 women, and 333 Gujaratis, including 17 women. The audience therefore varied by language, caste, religion, gender, and work. The libraries were built around that variety.

Workers often relied on small chawl libraries because regular public libraries were difficult to reach. Their work commitments limited daytime access, while social and class barriers restricted entry. The article gives a stark example from Satara, where a low-caste reader was thrown out of a public library.

Bombay’s larger libraries were organised around communities, neighbourhoods, or educational societies. Some were free, but others charged fees. Workers therefore used ephemeral chawl libraries, read bhajan books in mills, or borrowed from SSL circulating and travelling libraries. These options fitted working lives more closely.

The SSL also linked lending to night schools, where workers already gathered after work. Volunteers in chawls issued and recovered books, while boxes moved between centres every two or three months. This arrangement reduced distance, cost, scheduling, and institutional barriers. It also helped explain why demand grew faster than the number of available boxes.

Neighbourhood circulation changed access to books more than it changed people’s lives overnight. It gave working-class residents a practical way to borrow reading material near home or near night school. The SSL also promoted reading as a shared activity, rather than leaving books inside distant institutions.

The mechanism was simple. Volunteers in chawls issued books, recovered them, and encouraged reading. Boxes changed centres every two or three months. In 1912–13, the SSL recorded 131 readings for 2,550 illiterate people and distributed 5,000 Marathi leaflets on hygiene and other subjects.

The broader consequence was inclusion. The libraries reached women, Dalit readers, depressed classes, Muslims, Jews, Parsees, millhands, peons, and clerks. They also revealed strong demand: 2,765 readers borrowed 10,100 books. By 1915, more issuing centres than travelling boxes meant boxes had to circulate faster.

Bombay’s library culture included community, neighbourhood, and society libraries. Community libraries served groups such as Parsis, Muslims, Jains, and Zoroastrians. Neighbourhood libraries were tied to places such as Dhobi Talao and Nizampura. Society libraries often held the largest collections.

The SSL model was smaller but more mobile and targeted. Each box held 25 to 50 books and moved between centres after two or three months. Volunteers lent books in chawls, while night-school students or teachers could serve as librarians. The system followed readers instead of waiting for them to travel.

Scale and audience also differed. The BBRA Society held 90,000 books, while the Sassoon Mechanics’ Institute held 14,000. SSL libraries had fewer books but reached women, Dalit readers, depressed classes, workers, and other groups often absent from established libraries. Their strength was circulation and access, not collection size.

The SSL libraries reveal literacy as an access issue, not only a reading-skill issue. A person might want books yet face work schedules, fees, distance, caste exclusion, or an institution aimed at another community. Libraries therefore shaped literacy by deciding who could enter, borrow, and participate.

The SSL addressed several barriers together. It used Marathi and Gujarati collections, placed boxes in chawls, connected lending with night schools, and relied on local volunteers. Its audience included women, Dalit readers, depressed and backward classes, Muslims, Jews, Parsees, millhands, peons, and clerks. The system adapted access to social and working conditions.

The lending figures show what institutional access made possible. In 1912–13, 2,765 readers borrowed 10,100 books. By 1915, 161 issuing centres served 105 libraries. The pattern suggests that expanding literacy required flexible institutions and continued circulation, not simply larger central collections.