Anna library to turn a page, start lending books

CHENNAI: The Anna Centenary Library (ACL) at Kotturpuram here, which began solely as a referral bibliotheca in September 2010, will now start lending books. Visitors can approach the library to take books from March 12 onwards, said officials.

Anticipating high demand, preparations are on in full swing, with over one lakh books being readied for lending in the first phase.

Speaking to DT Next, an ACL official said the books for lending would be kept segregated – the children’s section on the first floor, the Tamil language section on the second and fictional books on the fourth floor.

“Gradually, books on other floors will also be placed for lending in coming weeks,” said the official.

In the Tamil section, 80,000 to one lakh books have been listed for lending. Further, 10,000 books will be placed in the children’s section, except dictionaries and encyclopaedias. In the English section, officials have decided to lend 10,000 books in the first phase.

“Currently, we have selected books that have two or more copies and are reasonably priced. With this new development, we also anticipate high footfall,” the official stated.

From 1,400 readers on weekdays and over 1,500 visitors on weekends, officials expect the numbers to surge after ACL turns into a lending library. To meet the demands, 6-8 librarians have been deployed on each floor.

“A total of 62 librarians will be available during the working hours. Additional librarians will be employed on contract if need be,” the official said. Meanwhile, nearly 5,500 people have availed for membership at ACL. Since the introduction of a free Wi-Fi facility at the library in early January, an average of 450 readers have been using the facility daily.