Well-designed! There's something for everyone, here!

VISIT TO A CITY LIBRARY

by

Megha P.S, II M.A. English

A library is every bibliophile's dream, one’s paradise. There is nothing like heading to the library on a cool, breezy morning. On one such day, I eagerly searched for a bus that would take me to my fantasy land of dragons, mansions and enchanted forests. As the patient wait came to an end, I quickly hopped on the bus (21G from West Tambaram), and to my surprise, found an empty seat during rush hour. Looking out the window, one could see the lush green hills and the clouds, as it turned grey from a clear light blue.

A crowded bus with the conductor shouting at the passengers to get tickets to their destinations, or children tightly clutching their parents’ hands, to young adults with blank expressions, thinking about the monotony of their work, occasionally hatched into a forced smile when nudged by a co-passenger: this bus was a world of its own. With no friends for company, this travel had more to offer, from observing my co-passengers to reflecting on life as the bus drove past the cancer institute in Adyar.

After an elaborate travel on a rickety bus for about forty minutes, I could see the library, the building gleaming as the mild sunrays fell on its windows. Anna Centenary Library, located in Gandhi Mandapam road, Kotturpuram, spreads across eight acres of land, in the heart of Chennai city. The enclosed library has a parking area. Inaugurated on September 15, 2010, on the occasion of the 102nd birth anniversary of the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Dr. CN Annadurai, the library is named after the former Chief Minister popularly and fondly remembered as 'Anna'. Anna Centenary Library has a hand carved statue of Perarignar Anna, surrounded by a fountain with lighting.

As I made my way into the main gate of the library, there were a few people walking in the library premises, breathing in the fresh, morning air.  As per the library rules, except valuables, books and water bottles, bags were to be deposited at the bag counter in return for a token. Walking up to the glassed, palatial, automated entrance, one could find the reception on one side with comfy couches, the other side opened into an airy space with potted plants and a miniature garden. A small Aavin counter had opened up early to serve the people with sleep stirred faces, a hot cup of coffee with freshly extracted decoction.

As I casually glanced above, I could see the staircase slither into quick and faint steps of enthusiastic book lovers to reach their book nirvana. The modern structure consists of a ground floor along with additional eight storeys wherein the floors are separated based on genres and disciplines. The library also boasts of a magnificent collection of 5, 50,000 books of various disciplines. Each floor is further divided into two wings, A and B, consisting of different categories of books. The ground floor housed the information centre, Braille section with facilities such as Braille conversion and software, which converts texts into Braille text for the visually challenged, showing that India delivers on international treaties. Self reading space along with Chennai’s famous dairy products outlet, Aavin, for a quick tea break or cooling off with a spread of ice cream, rejuvenates book enthusiasts after a long day’s reading.

The children section, located in the ‘B wing’ of the first floor, encompasses a collection of around 60,000 books for the young readers. For improving their knowledge, the library makes phonology and grammar texts, story books and children’s encyclopaedias accessible for the tingling curiosity in their minds. The periodicals section, situated in ‘A wing’ of the first floor, contains newspapers, both National and International magazines and journals, ranging from English to the regional magazines in languages such as Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam and the like. A complete level is dedicated for Tamil literature. The second floor is a doorway to paradise for readers of Tamil literature, wherein sits an array of books, be it novels, prose, short stories, essays, drama and so on, belonging to the ancient Tamil literature. The ‘B wing’ extends into other subjects such as astrology, journalism, religion, humanities and sciences, history and technology to name a few.

Floors three through seven, exclusively are for English books. The English section alone has over 4, 50,000 books in all subject areas published by leading publishers across the globe. In the third floor, one can find books relating to computer science, philosophy, psychology, religion, sociology, political science and statistics. The ‘A wing’ of the fourth floor is home to subjects such as economics, law, public administration and commerce, whereas, ‘B Wing’ is oriented specifically towards language and linguistics including foreign languages like German, French, Italian, Spanish and Latin and extends into English literature containing a well selected assemblage of books on criticism, theory, fiction, drama, anthologies and the like.

The fifth level is committed to pure science books on medicine, botany and zoology, to texts on mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry and the like. Texts pertaining to disciplines of architecture, engineering, agriculture, printing and manufacturing are displayed on the sixth floor. The seventh floor seats books specifically from the social sciences like history, geography, travel and biography. The eighth floor is the administrative section and office.

Though one can be intimidated by the vastness of the building, facilities such as elevators and wide stairways makes accessing one’s favourite book a trivial task. The library ensures that it is disabled friendly, with the inclusion of ramps and wheel chairs. It also boasts of an auditorium, amphitheatre and conference room in its confines. The library has a central air conditioning system which maintains the cool temperature throughout the day. Each level is equipped with fire hydrants and extinguishers to handle a possible fire hazard or risk.  Water purifiers and restroom facilities can be found on every floor. Security cameras have been installed for absolute safety and security. The staff and librarians are friendly and jovial and are ever ready to help people who flock into the library. The support staffs ensure that the library remains spic and span.

There is ample seating space and tables, furnished with study lamps for comfortable and continual reading. One can look out through the translucent windows and look at the greenery and the buzzing traffic in the vicinity. The glass structure doubles up for bright lighting during the day as one derives warmth from the sunny day with a pleasant, cool air in the interiors of the library. A complete database of books along with the authors is provided in computers, made available to the readers at each level, making the reader self- sufficient. Computers with internet accessibility are installed in all the floors for quick references and cross checking.

All in all, the library is user-friendly and well designed to meet the needs of everyone. This library serves and fulfils people’s and the community’s thirst for knowledge. The library remains open through the week from 8:00 A.M to 8:00 P.M.  In a time of kindles and PDFs, there is still a populace that loves dropping by to the library and enjoy the tranquil atmosphere it has to offer, along with drowning oneself in the depths of amidst the world of books.