The Hindu 18.01.2011
Several local bodies have no public libraries
NEW LOOK IN OFFING: A view of the branch library in East Tambaram, which is set for renovation. — Photo: A. Muralitharan.
: A branch library located in Gandhi Park in East Tambaram is all set
for renovation. The library was established in 1957 and caters to the
requirements of book lovers and readers of magazines and newspapers in a
few wards of East Tambaram.
The library nestled under the shade of trees within the
park is all set for renovation, as it is too cramped, considering that
there are nearly 4,500 members and more than 200 people visit the
library every day.
About Rs. 20 lakh would be spent to create a two-storey
building at its place, including Rs. 10 lakh from the constituency
development funds of Tambaram MLA S.R.Raja. The rest of the money would
be sourced from Tambaram Municipality and the Local Library Authority.
Tenders were awarded and work on constructing a new
building for the library would commence soon. Temporarily, the library
would be shifted to another building inside the park. Enquiries with
officials of the LLA of Kancheepuram district revealed that the East
Tambaram branch was fortunate to receive support from the local body,
while many other areas in the southern suburbs of Chennai were deprived
of public libraries.
Ullagaram-Puzhuthivakkam, a third-grade municipality,
did not have a library so long and only now a building was under
construction. Even among the over a dozen town panchayats around
Tambaram, there were no libraries in a few.
Among the 25 village panchayats in the southern suburbs
that come within St. Thomas Mount Panchayat Union, a number of them
lacked a library. Some village panchayats did not have buildings to
house the libraries due to want of land or funds to construct one.
Officials at the St. Thomas Mount Panchayat Union (Mount Block) conceded
that attempts were not made so long to build libraries. However, under
government-assisted programmes like Anaithu Grama Anna Marumalarchi
Thittam, they were hopeful that every rural local body would have a
public library.
In all, in the southern suburbs of Chennai, there were
60 branch libraries. While nearly all of them had regular staff, a few
of them were under the supervision of temporary staff, who were paid Rs.
160 a day. Constructing branch libraries in all localities and
appointing permanent staff would go a long way in encouraging reading
habit among the young, especially school students, said a regular
visitor to the branch library in Perungalathur.
