Eminent Parsi historian and our dear friend Marzban Giara informs us that the J. N. Petit Library Fort was started in 1895 and not 1856 (as stated in the article below) in memory of Jamsetjee Nusserwanji Petit who died at young age of 32.

If you’re a book-lover and haven’t yet set foot inside SoBo’s JN Petit Library and Reading room, then let us tell you that you’re missing out on a lot.

Article by Shalvi Mangaokar-Biswas | LBB

Established in 1856, this is one of Mumbai’s oldest libraries and is breathtakingly beautiful. Located at Fort inside this very magnificent and Gothic-style building, this library boasts of a huge collection of books {over 1,50,000 and counting}, that are spread across multiple categories such a fiction, non-fiction, art, culture, history, religion, general subjects, books in regional languages and more.

They also have a rare copy of Firdausi’s 11th century epic poem Shahnama, illustrated with gold leaf and an entire huge section {a special room, actually} that is home to rare books, old manuscripts of the Zoroastrian religion and more.

The library recently underwent a restoration process to preserve its beautiful architecture. When here, make sure you spend good enough time in its reading room, one that gorgeous and huge and majorly populated by college students {especially before exams}. The room boasts of stunning stained glass windows, reclining chairs that let you read in leisure and is amazing airy.

How Do I Become A Member?

It’s pretty simple. You go there, fill out a membership form with all the details and get started. Annual membership will cost you INR 1,000 where you’re allowed to take three books for a fortnight and two magazines at a time for a week. They regularly update their collections and have books that suit every kind of a reader.

So, We’re Saying…

If you’re a sucker for books, architecture and just spending your time catching up on great pieces of literature, then make your way to the JN Petit Library and Reading Room in Fort and get mesmerised with all that it has to offer to you.