David Sassoon Library and Reading Room

A group of young mechanics and foremen from the Royal Mint and Government Dockyard formed the Bombay Mechanics Institute to promote knowledge and learning. In 1863, Baghdadi Jewish merchant David Sassoon donated ₹60,000 to build a home for the institute.

Architects designed the building in the Victorian Gothic style between 1867 and 1870. The institute became a regular haunt for mechanics, engineers, architects, and scholars. It later became known as the Sassoon Mechanics Institute before eventually being renamed the David Sassoon Library and Reading Room.

The structure still stands in all its old-world glory on the Southern Esplanade in Fort. Across more than 150 years of existence, the David Sassoon Library and Reading Room never closed its doors to the public until COVID-19.

The library’s demographics gradually shifted from mechanics and engineers to stockbrokers, journalists, lawyers, and judges. Many renowned figures walked its hallowed halls.

Its members now mostly consist of students. Membership remains open to bibliophiles seeking a peaceful place where time appears to stand still in the heart of one of the busiest cities in the country.