Today’s magazine main article was about Public Libraries in different parts of India. I was enthralled by the reports on the libraries created over many centuries ago. But this whirling planet called Earth, where even a human existence is negligible when it turns into dust, these libraries have preserved the artifacts, the knowhow, the intelligence of our predecessors, and preserving the book for future sharing. These materials are kept showcasing the live structure of the past society and our collective heritage.
I am looking forward to the celebration of 250 years of the Rampur Raza Library. If we could have a library fest annually it would be helpful to know more about how a small library can also have a huge impact on its readers and patrons. It did not matter which country I was living in and which library system I was using, I loved them all.
I also feel that if we are going to have libraries harboring books from other countries then, I hope it is not connected with the consulate building since heavy security hinders the pain of getting into the library due to security reasons. You go to library to de-stress not to be in distress. Since I would be worrying about my valuable left outside with the security. I am not against it though but library visit is for intellectual building.
The best way to handle this IMHO would be to separate the two – the main consulate office and the library. That way the library could function independently and peacefully. Unless we have a situation like Alexandria library was going up in flames with valuable material of our collective human history. I think then we should be quick to preserve the works of great thinkers, philosophers, and evangelists of humanity. Naturally this would mean that the right archiving methods are used and made available to all.
I had assumed and presumed that Storytelling sessions did not happen in Indian libraries but I was proved wrong. I am so happy to be proved wrong about this aspect. But was thrilled to know that it also happens in India. “…there are independent initiatives taking books and reading to the masses in a bid to promote the public library system. The community Library Project in Delhi conducts storytelling sessions, and so does the Bansa Community Library in Uttar Pradesh…” | I am in deep gratitude for this initiative.
If the library could mobilize more people treating the library as a second home to research materials for their own personal uses, it would be so wonderful to watch it happen. Galvanizing the drive for more practices of reading and other related activities will improve and upgrade lifestyles and the communities’ progressive thoughts.
I found the section in the inside of the Sunday Magazine paper even more interesting about various populace social figures providing their POV on libraries, books, and their home-grown plethora of personal book collections and artifacts. This I found so endearingly close to my own personal collection at home. I call that one room alone my apartment as ‘home’ sometimes.
Libraries make me so enamored of the quality of calm they brought into my trouble-filled life. Any day a library can restore my balance and view of beauty in life. For me a shelf of books is an open invitation to immerse myself in the world created by the books. It would be my escape route out of reality into the assumed and presumed reality. Whether it was my free school library, or my community local lending library for a fee, or libraries attached to consulate general of Britain, The United States, or Library in Singapore, or Library in US all of them gave me the sense of being protected and cared for emotionally.
I really look forward to the libraries becoming more community libraries and related community events for the people in the specific areas. My dream is that one day there would be a community library in my area where there is a central archive and the local center provides the access to research and to pleasure materials through apps and on-site drives to make getting basic is not enough but to fly away with furthering their knowledge.
All of us in India should be aiming for being not just literate but also a free thinker who are open to various thoughts and democracies of reading and understanding. The greater number of people join the bandwagon of having a place to get information and being self-learned and taught the right attitude towards having a questioning mind, I feel that the goal of Libraries are more than the peripheral book lending works.
I am still fascinated about the Takshashila library and it was saddening to know that it was burned. But the later 19th Century rediscovery of the place all those ancient traditional works of Indian thinkers from the past showed that history at all times had to be resurrected like a Phoenix. I am still waiting for the moment the true story of history will come out. So, we should also include banned books and leave it to the discerning mind of the readers to make a choice to read them or not.
I had worked in a company that was an outsourced group for Newspaper archives for New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, my team, and I were involved in making this e-version paper support and enable searching. It was such a pleasure to work with the company if I fix my thought just on my work. I loved to work in libraries and I don’t mind if it left me sweaty as my brain takes in the content that I am researching that high summer afternoon.
The fun of reading today’s Sunday Magazine was the wonderful feeling of not being alone as a book lover. The joy it brings to my entire mental well-being cannot be forgotten for me. I still feel that a good library, even a dusty one, can awaken the inner self for higher values and ideals of life.
Itinerant Storyteller 