The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Vacations spell boom time for local libraries

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 14, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Vacations spell boom time for local libraries

Kannal Achuthan

Membership has swelled in the last two months, say owners

WORD MAGIC: Children pore over an illustrated fairy tale book at Eswari Lending Library in Royapettah on Friday. — Photo: S. Thanthoni

Chennai : Neighbourhood lending libraries have become oases for book-thirsty Chennaiites this summer.

Membership has swelled in the last two months, said owners of these small but well-stocked libraries. The members include children who want to re-read the sixth Harry Potter before the final book is released, movie buffs who would like to read The Namesake after watching the film, and computer science students looking for summer coaching textbooks.

"Holidays are the best time for us as students are free from lessons. Fiction is very popular," said N. Palani, founder of Easwari Lending Library, one of the oldest neighbourhood libraries in Chennai. The library, started on Lloyds Road in 1955, now has seven branches in the city. Mr. Palani said he had placed orders for 100 copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as it is likely to be very popular. He also buys cartons of Archie comics every month because they are all-time favourites of many readers.

While most of the neighbourhood lending libraries put the popular, light-read books on display, a little extra browsing can yield interesting finds, said A. Anusha, a literature student. She recently borrowed a copy of the biography of writer Philip Larkin from a lending library in R.A. Puram.

R. Balasubramanian, a Class 10 student of National Public School, became so fond of spending time in the library near his home that he decided to work part time there during the summer. "I work from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. making entries of books taken out and I get to read any book for free," he said. Eloor Lending Library in T. Nagar is another haunt of book-lovers. The library charges 10 per cent on the cover price of the book. Some lending libraries also offer value-added services. For instance, Bookworms Library in K.K. Nagar recently conducted a creative writing workshop for children.

Both Bookworms (www.bookwormslib.com) and Easwari (www.easwarilibrary.com) offer online information and door delivery services.

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