More than a thousand people thronged the Kalaignar Centenary Library in Madurai on Sunday, a day after Chief Minister M.K. Stalin inaugurated the facility, to take a look at the collections.
Some of the visitors said the library was a boon to the southern districts of the State, not just Madurai.
Upon entering the library, the visitors get to see the art gallery where the vintage photos of Madurai are on display. V.S. Sundaraveerapan, a student of Class IX and a fan of comic books, said he was happy to find his favourite collection of comics and would visit the library regularly.
N.M. Punniyamoorthy, a businessman, said the library had books for everyone. While his sons were busy checking the books in the children’s section, his wife was in another section checking recipe books. “We came together to the library. Now, everyone is looking for books of their choice in different sections,” he said.
K. Jahir Hussein, another visitor, said he was impressed with the interactive section. Madina Ismail said one’s imagination of a library is usually a cramped room full of books. But this facility is spacious and makes reading comfortable. N. Geeta Devi said that through visual learning, children would understand the subjects better.
The section for the differently abled is on the ground floor, where the art gallery is also located. The first floor has the children’s section and the science section. The second floor houses Tamil books, the third floor English books and the fourth floor reference books. The fifth floor has the E-Library and the sixth floor is an extension of the reference books and also houses the administrative office.
Joint Director and the Chief Librarian and Information Officer C. Amuthavalli said the library would be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on all days and would be closed only on eight government holidays. The library has rare collections. All the Tamil books have been tagged. Membership would begin after the English books are tagged, which should begin in another 15 days, she added.
One of the attractions in the library is an augmented reality facility that gives visitors an experience of being with former Chief Minister Karunanidhi.
The library also has a multi-purpose hall and an auditorium. People were seen taking selfies at these facilities and with a statue of Karunanidhi, which was also unveiled by Mr. Stalin.
