Book lovers, writers and students preparing for a plethora of examinations now have a wonderfully equipped spot in an uptown part of the city — the British Council library on Road No.36, Jubilee Hills. Walk into the library on the fourth floor, and you’ll see charming endeavours to provide members with a modern day ‘reading’ and ‘cultural’ space — the latter being the keyword. A lot of purists would not include the idea of a ‘well-furnished space’ as a pre-requisite for a library, which is synonymous with books; but, the growing desiderium for a peaceful ambience to read, work, research or write, has been met by the British Council library. Free Wi-Fi and dirt-cheap rates at the coffee shop inside the library add to the allure of the place even as it gradually stacks up its book count — that had drastically fallen when the complex shifted to Jubilee Hills a year and a half ago. Every week a couple of dozen new titles are on display, and it was exhilarating to find Tolkien and George Eliot amongst the author names in this week’s additions. Pavani, a BA student at St. Francis, who frequents the library along with her friends, muses about how aesthetic the ambience is for reading — whether it is your own notes or any of the innumerable books and magazines available there.
The British Council library is indeed moulding itself true to its tagline of being more than just a library. As an organisation whose primary focus is on international cultural and educational opportunities, the British Council is quite a name in the literary circles too. The library, which is one of Hyderabad’s most well-known fixtures, is going through an interesting shift in paradigms too, probably trying to keep up with the changing needs.
Rajneesh, who is an obsessive reader and a member of the library since 2007 feels it is a good space for those looking to work or read in peace. The magazines and journals section has a lot to offer with publications including The Economist, New Scientist and Times Literary Supplement. However, as an MBA graduate in International Business from Manipal University, with an MA in Social Anthropology, Rajneesh misses the days of the old building, where there were myriad titles on social anthropology and genetics, the library attracting many students, some of them medical, with expensive titles that could not be purchased by students otherwise. His nostalgia is akin to any avid book reader — the number of physical copies has come down quite a few notches in the new complex. Nothing matches the feeling of holding paper in your hand, he signs off. Sai Davuluri, a former B.Tech student from Vasavi College, also chimes in about the time he went to the older complex, years ago, to be mesmerised by the number of books – something that he wishes didn’t change about the new-look library.
The digital section has innumerable titles though, which can be accessed on the reading devices whose growing popularity is an added incentive of the already economical membership. The regularity of the events at the cultural space is the reason why all the book-shelves — numbered with catalogue lists including English poetry, linguistics, management, psychology, social sciences, arts, music and law — are mobile. An audio-visual room facilitates video sessions organised from time to time.In the growing hubbub of the city, the library is a wonderfully designed corner for those who hate the noise of coffee shops, but need that ambience, not to mention the whiff of countless titles especially in literature, available for a peaceful afternoon designated for reading, research and writing!
