Archival cell consists of about 50,000 rare books, which are donated by various eminent scholars and personalities. The rare books dates from 1716 to 1950 A.D. The some of the important donations, which are available in the Archival Cell are as below:

• Bhai Madhavrao Bagal Collection : [Social, Political Leader, Freedom Fighter, Famous Writer and Artist] Collection consists of books on social movement, Freedom Struggle and united India movement, Labour movement, Communism and Socialism etc.
• Dr. Dhananjay Keer Collection : [A well known biographer and Writer] Collection consists of biographical materials on Mahatma Gandhi, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Lokmanya Tilak, Swatantryaveer Savarkar etc.
• Khaserao Sawant Collection : Comprises of special collection on Religious and Spiritual books.
• Dr. B. S. Bhanage Collection : [Ex. Vice-Chancellor of Shivaji University, Kolhapur] Consists of books on Economics and Planning, Social Sciences etc.
• Babasaheb Deshpande Collection : [Well known Historian and awardee of ‘Itihasbhushan’] Comprises of special collection of rare books on History.
• Dr.Hiralal Auluck Collection : [Well Known Scholar] One of the biggest donated collections having 6500 books covering areas of Hindi Literature, Language and Culture, Marxism, Leninism and Socialism etc.
• Dr.Rajvaidya Jagtap Collection : [‘Rajvaidya’ family of Kolhapur State] Special Collection on ‘Ayurveda’, Ayurvedic Medicines and literature etc.
• Dr. Vilas Sangave Collection : [Famous Social Scientist, Honoured with D.Lit. by Shivaji University, Former Director of Chha. Shahu Research Centre, Shivaji University Kolhapur] Collection contains books on Jain Religion and Jain Literature.
• Prof. Pednekar Collection : [Renowned Professor of English Literature] Consists of special collection on English Literature.
• Pandit Khuperkar Shastri Collection : [A Learned Sanskrit Scholar from Kolhapur] Collection comprises of books on Religion, Sanskrit, Veda, Upnishad, Grammar etc.
• ‘Vijayi Maratha’ Collection : [‘Vijayi Maratha’, a popular old newspaper started by Social activist, Shri. Shripatrao Shinde, Kolhapur] Collection comprises of literature devoted to Satyashodak movement of Mahatma Phule.

Manuscripts:

About 6923 Manuscripts are available in the Archival Cell on various subjects such as Vedanta, Dharmashastra, Nyayashastra, Jotishya, Vaidak, History, Puran, Literature, Kavya, Natak(Drama), Yoga etc. which dates back to 1353. The manuscripts were acquired mainly from the individuals and institutions. Some of the important collection of manuscripts is:

• Shri. V. N. Panditrao, Kolhapur
• Ingale-Kulkarni Collection
• Nirnaya Sagar Press, Mumbai Collection
• Principal B.A. Babar,Tasgaon
• Pandit Balacharya Khuperkar Shastri, Kolhapur
• Shri.B.S. Pradhan, Kolhapur
• Shrimant Ganapatrao Rajopadhye, Kolhapur

Other Archival Materials:

Besides the rare books and manuscipts different archival material is also available in the cell. Old Newspapers Din Bandhu, Bombay (1893-1912), Rashtraveer, Belgaum (1920-1947), Hunter, Akhand Bharat (Kolhapur), Vijayi Maratha, Kolhapur (1919-1932), Din Mitra, Taravadi etc. The old Periodicals and journals like Bharat Itihas Samshodak mandals quarterly, Purusharth, Vividh Dnyan Vistar,Kirloskar, Kalyan,Sahyadri,Wangmay shobha, etc. and some of the distinct materials like Tamprata (516 AD), Old historical coins, stone objects from Bramhapuri (Kolhapur) excavation, facsimile copy of constitution of India etc. are available in the Archival cell.

The Library has recently procured MINOLTA PS 7000 Publication Scanner for digitization of rare documents. The work of digitization of Institutional Repository is commenced.

Archival Cell has completed a project to the NMM (National Mission for Manuscripts, Ministry of Culture, G.O.I.) for documentation of Manuscripts.

For details regarding archival cell may be had from Mr. Shafik Desai, Conservationist at the e-mail address: shafikdesai@gmail.com.