The number of visitors to the District Central Library (DCL) has been consistently on the rise, according to library officials.
P. Rajendran, DCL librarian, told The Hindu that on a given day, the library saw between 700 and 800 visitors, with the number increasing during weekends. Among the seven major sections in the library, the section for books related to competitive examinations drew the most number of visitors, he said.
This year, nearly 10,000 new books were expected to be added to the library’s catalogue, Mr. Rajendran said, adding that orders had been placed with 514 Tamil language publishers and 220 English language publishers. Once the books arrived, it would be distributed to various branch and village libraries. “Each library will receive a minimum of 3,000 books,” Mr. Rajendran said. The distribution would be completed by September.
The DCL organises various events to attract more visitors. According to Mr. Rajendran, 12 classes are conducted in a month to offer training for various competitive exams. Events like storytelling and Tirukkural recitations are also organised for children every month.
The library has also taken measures to make it more reader-friendly. “Free WiFi facility has been provided on the premises,” Mr. Rajendran said. On the digital initiatives, the library saw the introduction of Magzter, the digital magazine store, nearly a year ago. This allowed visitors to access magazines from all over the world, he said. Another initiative was the membership to Developing Library Network (DELNET), a database of digital resources including journals, dissertations and theses from across the country.
Other major sections in the DCL are newspaper and periodicals section, children’s section, general books section, reference books section, ‘own books’ section (where one can bring their own books for study) and the section for the differently abled.
R. Jagannathan, a trainer at the differently abled section, said that nearly 20 persons visited the section every day, with the number increasing to 40 during weekends. The section had textbooks in Braille and software such as screen reader and Braille embosser for the visually challenged; trackball mouse for the physically challenged and Avaz software for children and adult with learning disabilities. “Sessions for competitive exams are also held for the differently abled every week,” Mr. Jagannathan said.
However, NGOs and activists in literacy movement are of the opinion that libraries in rural areas is the need of the hour and part-time or mobile libraries can be promoted in such places. The focus should be on inculcating reading habit among school children.
