A noisy school playground, a loud movie theatre and cacophonic main road shops and traffic flank Madurai’s oldest library, The Victoria Edward Hall, in the heart of the city. Yet, the 115-year old structure near the railway junction has not quite lost its quiet corners. And definitely not it’s books either. Many of them are over a century old -- the original government gazettes, notifications and bulletins, Sanskrit manuscripts, the first prints of many old novels and literary works in English, Hindi and Tamil and reprinted editions of subject-specific books of over three-dozen streams.
It is a rich collection of over 100,000 books kept on the first floor of the building. And there are people like the retired couple Narayans who visit every fortnight to return and borrow more books. And why not, when a library offers a fantastic wealth of literary riches? But Narayan rues, “libraries are not just about books, they are spaces that need to be experienced.”
True, a good public library shows itself in its catalogue, the physical disposition of its books on shelves, the natural light, the seating arrangement, the sustainable lay-out and a librarian with proper knowledge of library sciences. But none of these exist here in the ancient library. Yet, there are 2,700 more members like Narayan who drop by and have perhaps prevented the poorly maintained library from closing down.
“On an average 50 to 100 members visit the library daily,” says Dr.I.Ismail, general secretary of the Victoria Edward Hall. In olden times, it used to be a prestigious address in town for conducting political, cultural and literary programmes. The library was founded in 1908 and attracted people from the entire district to come and read newspapers and magazines.
The dusty shelves on the ground floor are still crammed with all kinds of magazines and dailies that non-members have access to during morning hours. A separately constructed covered shed outside the main building offers few plastic chairs for people to sit and read. Only the members have access to the prized collection of books on the first floor. But entering it is like assaulting your sense and sensibilities. The books are thrown in a huge pile on a table in the middle, the racks are laden with dust and cobwebs. There is hardly any space in between the shelves or sufficient light to search for a book.
New additions every year are accommodated in large cupboards and shelves that now block the windows and sunlight in an otherwise poorly lit hall. The labels have faded with time and delving into history and the past here is a far cry. A place of such heritage value is an apology for library. It has neither cared to change keeping with the times nor appears overtly worried about remaining relevant.
But Dr.Ismail points out being a philanthropic institution, child and adult social and medical care take precedence. For instance, an aid of Rs.five lakh per annum is doled out to downtrodden children for their education besides buying new books for the library and conducting free medical camps for the poor and needy. The annual membership of the library remains at Rs.60 and revenue comes from rent from the shops and the theatre inside the compound.
Public libraries are irreplaceable centres of knowledge and innovative community programming. A random study done by the Indian Public Library Movement (IPLM) states there are 70,000 public libraries across the country with a potential to reposition themselves as new age knowledge institutions.
Currently, the IPLM under NASSCOM Foundation is silently trying to transform libraries into responsive, engaging and inclusive spaces. “We are working in 22 States and have identified libraries that are either in dire straits or have already shown some promise in reinventing,” says Shubhangi Sharma, the IPLM Executive Director.
The nodal agency under the Centre for supporting public and private library services and systems is the Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation (RRRLF) which is currently working with 34,000 public libraries. Apparently, the lack of proposals from State Governments keeps the services and funds under-utilised.
Sharma points out library attendance declines due to the absence of entrepreneurial librarians among other factors. People don’t realise once a library is lost it can never be got back, she says. IPLM plans to create an enabling environment in all libraries across India by 2030. “In this digital age, there is need to evolve libraries into much more than storehouse of books,” she adds.
“We want people to think and talk about libraries in a different way,” adds her colleague Dr.Vignesh Sornamohan, who recently checked out several libraries in Tamil Nadu for tie-ups in training librarians and policy makers, building human resource capacities, rolling out new services that appeal to people and providing public access computers. He was visibly disappointed to see the condition of the Victoria Edward Hall Library in Madurai. “It is an incredible community asset and there is so much scope to turn it into a hive of vibrant activity,” he says.
While revitalising public libraries is a work in progress that commenced in 2012 with support from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as part of Global Libraries Initiative, the key players of the movement feel libraries have to be showcased as engines of development instead of being antiquated.
Madurai district boasts of 130 libraries including the central district library, the panchayat, branch and private libraries that could perhaps take advantage of this new thinking and write to the State education department, the RRLF Kolkata and the Union Ministry of Culture with their proposals for change. When we cheer for Madurai as a smart city, the decaying library system also needs to be taken into account.
Quote:
“We get NSS volunteers periodically to clean the library. The staff is responsible for general maintenance and upkeep of the books. We have plans to digitise our collection of books” – Dr.I.Ismail
Old is gold:
The first public library in India is the State Central Library of Kerala, also known as the Trivandrum Public Library. Earlier known as the Trivandrum People’s Library, it was established in 1829 and accessed by the privileged class during the reign of King Swathi Thirunal. It was opened to public in 1898.
The Imperial Library was opened to public in 1903 after merging with the Calcutta Public Library
Topping the charts:
Anna Centenary Library Chennai
National Library of India, Kolkata
State Central Library of Hyderabad
Rampur Raza Library, UP
Seshadri Iyer Memorial, Karnataka
The Asiatic Society of Mumbai
