The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : British Council library donates books, DVDs

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Wednesday, Mar 19, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

British Council library donates books, DVDs

Sarah Hiddleston

V.S. Achuthanandan accepted the donation
British Council will retain IT equipment and software

CHENNAI: The British Council may close its library in Thiruvanathapuram but its entire stock of books, journals, magazines and DVDs, even its shelving, will be handed over to the Kerala Government so that the people of the city can continue enjoying them, Chris Gibson, Director of the British Council, South India, has said.

However, the British Council would retain the generator, IT equipment and software, he said. Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan accepted the donation at a meeting with Mr. Gibson and British Council Cultural Affairs Minister Rod Pryde on February 5. A memorandum of understanding has been drawn up. The British Council has also offered to provide training for five days to help establish a library in the city.

As the lease agreement with the YMCA for the library building will expire on March 31, the British Council is removing the stock and dismantling the premises. “We are keen on signing the memorandum of understanding as soon as possible,” Mr Gibson said, indicating that the British Council was awaiting instruction from the Kerala Government as to where to leave the stock. In the meantime, the stock is being moved to a temporary store nearby.

“The outcry over the closure, in one sense, shows how successful it has been,” Mr. Gibson said.

“We had to close the libraries in Thiruvananthapuram and Bhopal because bringing them up to standard would have required huge investments.”

The British Council will invest instead in larger projects such as the scheme recently agreed upon between Prime Ministers Gordon Brown and Manmohan Singh to train 750,000 teachers to boost English language learning over five years. “The library only has 6,500 members,” he said, “but this could reach hundreds of thousands of people.”

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