It’s the butterflies that we first spot. They hover over the walls of the library as paintings, their colours lighting up the space. In the centre, is a clay sculpture of Tamil author Ku Alagirisami, made by Chennai artist Koilpitchai Prabakar. Outside, on a wall, reads Writer Ku Alagirisamy Centenary School Library. On adjacent walls, are huge sketches of Russian writers Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostovesky. The library, the latest addition to the Government Higher Secondary School in Arachalur, a town near Erode, is a departure from those at many Government-run institutions.
It was started by Tiruvannamalai-based Cuckoo Movement For Children, a community that works across Tamil Nadu taking the arts, stories, and Nature to children across strata, with focus on rural children. “This is the centenary year of Alagirisami, and we opened the library on September 23, the last day of the centenary,” says Sivaraj from Cuckoo.
