A week ago, children browsing books at the Periyar Nagar Public Library, Anna Nagar, were informed of an impromptu competition. The voice of the librarian blared from the microphone: “Those who would like to recite a poem or sing a song, please come forward”.
The children took part in the competition enthusiastically, with some scrambling for the microphone. No child seemed surprised when the competition was announced.
For, this is just one of many events for which the library serves as a platform.
Started in 1991, the Periyar Nagar Public Library has been witnessing an increase in patronage every year. Today, according to chief librarian Venkatesan, the Library has a registered patronage of 13,000 members.
The Library no doubt has an enviable range of books, but it took more than books to rack up such a huge patronage.
The library is often thrown open for competitions, activities and training classes, conducted by a motley group of volunteers, and offered free-of-cost.
Here are some regular and ongoing activities at the Library:
Spoken English classes (since the last four years); chess coaching for children (since last year); drawing classes for children (since the last six months) and Reader's Circle (Vaasagar Vattam). Tamil Literary activities include debates, oratory, poetry recitation and essay writing (since last 20 years). Poetry recitals and public speaking are among the other activities.
“All these activities are community outreach programmes aimed at involving both adults as well as children in the neighbourhood,” reasons Venkatesan.
And in April 2015, the Library started Science And Nature Club “to develop scientific temper in the community; to promote classics and present cutting-edge science concepts, and to getting children and adults interested in astronomy and skywatch,” he says.
Dr. Duraiswamy Navaneetham, a resident monthly speaker, organises and conducts the Science and Nature Club.
Guest speakers from the neighbourhood also head the sessions. Some of the recent speakers are: Dr. S. Jimson MDS, who spoke on general oral hygiene and cancer; and Satish Srinivas who spoke about rare diseases.
Anandhi Narayanaswamy, a resident of Anna Nagar and a patron of the Library is also the Club’s coordinator. She and her children enjoy learning science through such talks and activities.
“Such talks encourage people to frequent the Library. These talks are generally centred around astronomy — a subject that interests everybody. Besides, it is a platform for children to learn beyond their classrooms,” she says.
