NASSDOC Reading Room has been providing facilities to the researchers to pursue their research goals in a very conducive environment since 1970. While all other units work on five days basis, the Reading Room remains opens from Monday to Saturday. It is closed on Sundays, Gazetted and National holidays. The working hours of Reading Room are from 9.30 am to 6.00 pm
The ICSSR-NASSDOC library has a rich collection of reference sources viz, bibliographies, encyclopaedias, doctoral theses, research project reports, books on social science research methodology, computer and information technology, research surveys on all the major social science disciplines. The collection is augmented by bound volumes of periodicals, current Indian/foreign periodicals including ICSSR publications and other abstracting and indexing journals in social sciences, newsletters and annual reports of different organizations. Government reports/serials and institutional publications are also acquired on regular basis. There is a special collection of grey literature which includes institutional papers e.g. working/occasional/discussion papers.
Apart from the physical materials, NASSDOC offers extensive access to a wealth of scholarly content through its e-library portal. This includes vast collections of e-resources, e-journals, and e-books, featuring research articles, book chapters, and conference proceedings.
ICSSR-NASSDOC library’s membership is open to the following categories of readers:
Official Members - These include ICSSR Council Members/ senior officials of the ICSSR secretariat and regular professional staff of the ICSSR (i.e. Research Assistants/Documentation Assistants and above). They are entitled to borrow 5 books at a time from the library for 2 weeks.
Consulting Members - Consultation facility is extended to academicians, research scholars, students and members of general public that may include retired persons and other categories of readers. Consultation membership fee is Rs. 1200 per annum (minimum Rs. 200 for one month).
Borrowing Members - Borrowing facility is extended to social scientists, academicians, students and general readers who are registered as members of the library. Books are issued against a security deposit of Rs.1000/- per book. Maximum of two books can be issued to individual members at a time for 2 weeks.
Institutional Members - Institutional membership is also available against a payment of Rs. 10,000 for one year.Five (5) books can be borrowed by an institution for a period of one month.
Guest Members - There is no fee for guest readers who want to consult the library for a day or two. They are issued a guest card for the day.