The Hindu : Kerala News : Of books nearly forgotten

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Thursday, Jun 05, 2008
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Kerala

Of books nearly forgotten

There was a time when the books in the British Library – the erstwhile British Library actually – used to be among the best kept ones in the capital city. On the night of March 31, these books, in their hundreds, were trucked off to the Public Works Department rest house at Thycaud.

There they have lain for the past two months as the government and the YMCA slug it out for ownership of the building that once housed the library. Not once have the four rooms at the rest house been opened since and not one official has dropped by to see whether the books are intact. It is also not clear when and if these books will form part of a new library, as promised by the government.

That is not all. The shelves that were brought from the British Library are now stacked in the verandah of the rest house with little cover from the elements. Officials at the rest house say the shelves are sure to get soaked once the monsoon sets in, in right earnest.

“Our furniture which was inside these rooms was also taken out to accommodate the books. We need these rooms so that we can accommodate those who come to stay here; this includes top officials on tours. Let somebody come at least once in a while to see whether the books are alright and whether the rats have got at them. If something happens to these books, it will be a national waste,” a rest house official says.

When the British Council decided to close down the British Library, there were those who formed a forum to try and ‘save’ it. Is it time for another forum to be set up to try and save the books that were once the pride of the city?

G. Mahadevan

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