How India's Food Crisis Spurred a Literary Boom in American Libraries

Amidst India’s struggle for food security in the mid-20th century, a U.S. initiative transformed libraries across America, enabling institutions like the University of Chicago to amass extensive South Asian collections, but the implications for resource accessibility remain a topic of concern.

The 1996 discovery of the wealth of South Asian literature at the University of Chicago's Regenstein Library by Ananya Vajpeyi, a history doctoral student, highlights an underreported consequence of geopolitical initiatives. This library, over 132 years old, now boasts more than 800,000 volumes on South Asian studies, but the story of how these collections emerged is rooted in India's historical food scarcity and diplomatic strategies.

In 1954, the U.S. launched the PL-480 programme, known as Food for Peace, during a time of Cold War tensions. This initiative allowed countries such as India to purchase U.S. grain using local currency, reducing the economic strain while addressing food shortages. India became a substantial participant in this program particularly from the 1950s onward. The funds allocated were not only used for grain but also for enriching education, enabling ample book purchases for U.S. universities at a nominal cost, thereby turning institutions into vital repositories of South Asian knowledge.

“PL-480 has had amazing and unexpected consequences for the University of Chicago and for more than 30 other U.S. collections,” stated James Nye, who oversees the Digital South Asia library. By 1968, participation in PL-480 had led to over 750,000 books and journals being shipped to American universities, with more than 633,000 sourced specifically from India. This program proved complex, as it required the establishment of a diverse network of Indian booksellers and experts, ensuring that educational institutions received high-quality materials.

While institutions thrived from this initiative and amassed a vast array of titles—spanning literature, history, and culture—questions linger about the implications for South Asian literary resources. Critics, such as Todd Michelson-Ambelang, highlight that the removal of extensive literary collections from India to the West has created gaps in knowledge for local researchers, who now must travel abroad for resources.

The legacies of these acquisitions are mixed. Despite many books remaining accessible in the U.S., preservation challenges in India due to environmental factors contrast grimly with the sophisticated facilities of American libraries, which ensure their materials remain intact. Though the PL-480 program ended in the 1980s and shifted costs to American libraries themselves, Vajpeyi regards the exchange as a largely positive outcome for scholarly pursuit.

Reflecting on her educational experiences, she notes the vital role that U.S. libraries played in her studies, contrasting these with the often-neglected facilities in India that struggle to support literature and scholarship. The story of how India's food crisis inadvertently sowed the seeds of literary wealth in American libraries continues to unfold, raising essential questions about access, preservation, and the colonial undertones of academic resource distribution.