Silence echoes in Chennai's public libraries

CHENNAI: Every evening after work, Kasi Perumal walks into the Devaneya Pavanar District Central Library on Anna Salai. In his 50s now, he has made it a point to spend at least an hour there. “This place used to be packed. We used to fight for seats,” he recalls.

Opened in 1965, the Devaneya Pavanar Library named after the Tamil scholar is among Chennai’s oldest public reading rooms. Once a magnet for readers, the reading hall is silent with just the sound of the hot wind blowing through the doors.

Chennai’s public libraries form a wide network. The city has 13 full-time libraries, 5 central libraries, 1 district central library and 121 branch libraries. While Connemara Public Library and Anna Centenary Library are often the poster faces of the State’ reading culture, it’s these lesser-known local libraries that continue to quietly serve the city’s students, job-seekers, and handful of enthusiasts and old-timers.

From the two-storied full-time library in Shenoy Nagar to the branch library on the second floor of an apartment building in Villivakkam, these spaces find takers. However, it’s mainly limited to students preparing for competitive exams.

Most librarians admit that the emptiness of the library’s huge galls gnaws at them. “Even before COVID, the crowd wasn’t massive. But now, the lending flow has reduced to nearly half,” says one librarian with over 10 years of service.

According to an estimate shared by a librarian, a well-functioning full-time library in Chennai has roughly 15,000 registered subscribers. But in real terms, the daily footfall is meagre and the maximum lending count is around 100 books.

In branch libraries, the trend is more striking. Many function in modest spaces with staff managing everything from inventory to visitor registers. The biggest challenge, librarians say, is digital infrastructure.

While the Tamil Nadu government has launched an ambitious state-wide modernisation programme aiming to digitise over 4,500 libraries with RFID chips, e-catalogues, and audio-visual materials, these Chennai libraries still rely on handwritten registries.

“We know how many books we have. We try to keep track of the number of books that go out and come back. But it’s really hard to keep pace without digitisation,” points out a librarian at a north Chennai library.

Despite these challenges, the existing structures are robust. Most libraries maintain quiet reading halls, reference books, Tamil and English magazines, and children’s corners.

However, several librarians express cautious concern over the rise of state-run competitive exam study centres, which offer AC halls and modern facilities. They worry over the existence of a public library when the visits dwindle to single digits.

Speaking to DT Next, M Rajesh Kumar, District Library officer, said “We’ soon be upgrading 20 libraries across the city and digitisation will be a part of it.”

Tamil Nadu has been among the most library-dense states in the country. It passed India’s first Public Libraries Act in 1948, and in recent years, the state has allocated substantial resources to restore that legacy. How to make it thrive in this era of social media, reels and instant gratification is the most common unanswered question.