All but four libraries in Kuttanad in Alappuzha are still under water. At MV Library and Reading Room at Pandanad, books were swept away by the surging waters. Parts of the structure where Anandapradayini, an old library near the KSRTC bus-station in Alappuzha, used to function came down, burying the books underneath.
As the floodwaters raged through the State last month, they left behind a trail of destruction. Along with houses, schools, and establishments, libraries, big and small, were inundated. Thousands of books were left a sodden mess, and years, even decades, of hard work came undone in no time. While some of the books may be irreplaceable, efforts are on to salvage the others. The Kerala State Library Council, which has 8,417 libraries under it, estimates that 211 libraries have been affected by the deluge. The council is pinning its hopes on the government’s promise that libraries would be compensated for their losses and, thereby, get back on track.
“Going by preliminary estimates, the loss of books, furniture, and other equipment comes to over ₹12 crore. The government has sought a detailed report, and district council secretaries are sending across the details,” Council secretary P. Appukuttan says. The worst affected was Alappuzha district, preliminary reports go on to say, with over 60 libraries affected — 31 libraries in Kuttanad and 15 in Chengannur flooded. Ernakulam did not fare much better, with books in 55 libraries under water for days. Thirty-five libraries in Pathanamthitta, 18 in Kottayam, and 17 in Thrissur too were ravaged.
The libraries face a difficult task in the months ahead. They will have to prioritise what needs to be done with the limited resources in hand. Alappuzha Library Council secretary Maloor Sreedharan says many of the books lost were irreplaceable. “At Sankaravilasam Library at Mundankavu in Chengannur, one of the oldest in the State, some old books have been lost forever.” Thought will have to be given to salvaging rare books, which are priceless. “After lying in water for days, books may be difficult to salvage. The council also needs to think about conserving books using latest technology, so that books that are salvageable are restored,” Mr. Sreedharan says.
Support
Needless to say, libraries will also have to decide what to do with books that are in no condition to be put back on shelves. In some places, they have been dumped outside to be sorted, exposed to the elements. The Library Council has been promised books for its libraries by the Kerala Sahithya Akademi, Kerala Book Marketing Society (Bookmark), DC Books and Poorna Publications. The Council has also planned a book collection drive with the support of the people, and has appealed to the public to donate books to libraries affected by the floods.
State Librarian P.K. Sobhana says a number of libraries had suffered huge losses after becoming inundated, and the State Central Library plans to collect books to hand over to them. “General books from the public will be collected. Then, there are many students pursuing higher education who have lost their textbooks. We want to collect books for them and hand these over to the Director of Education so that they can be passed on depending on the requirement of each institution. The State Central Library would also collect books from libraries across the country with the support of the Indian Public Library Movement and hand these over to the flood-affected libraries that had asked for books. Books published before 2010 would not be accepted, though.
Documentation
Records of the 1924 flood are very few. To ensure that the mid-August floods are documented properly, Ms. Sobhana plans a year-long initiative to document newspaper and online magazine reports from the start of the flood. Social media such as Facebook too would be covered. The final product would be brought out in the form of a book, with proper indexing so that it could be accessed by the public.
