CHENNAI: Barely 10 metres from the building’s front gates, a child, presumably from a nearby housing settlement, is seen defecating in the open. Lack of public toilets on Arunachalam Street in Chintadripet is evidently an issue. But the same could be said about the Chennai District Branch Library, housed inside the Goschen Hall, a building that’s 91 years old.
Myriad rusting bookshelves, an ill-maintained backyard, a lack of toilets and the fading colour of the heritage building are some of the issues which prevent the library from possibly increasing its public patronage.
Located in close proximity to May Day Park, the building has quite a history behind it. Named after Lady Goschen, the wife of the then Governor of Madras George Goschen, the hall had its foundation stone laid in 1926. The following year saw a public library being established there.
According to historian V Sriram, the hall is also referred to as the Vijayaraghavulu Chetty Hall. “Chetty was a well-known person in the locality. He wanted to encourage reading among local residents. Hence, he set up the public library. At times, the hall was used as a public meeting venue.”
The hall is now listed under the heritage structure category by the Justice E Padmanabhan Committee. However, officials from the Chennai District Library Authority, caretakers of the library, cite this as a reason for not improving user facilities.
The library staff claims it was affected by the 2015 floods and, subsequently, was not in use for considerable time. Books are mostly in Tamil and the total number is being enumerated presently. Books aside, it is the state of the building that bothers visitors.
A John, who drops by three days a week, stated: “The absence of toilets is more of a problem. Also, the bookshelves are old, with dirt rising every time.”
When contacted, Elango Chandrakumar, District Library Officer, conceded that they are not able to upgrade facilities because the heritage conservation committee has barred any modification. “We have sought permission from the committee. Shortly, all grievances, including a provision for creating toilets, will be addressed,” he told Express.
Factfile
Named after Lady Goschen, wife of the then Governor of Madras, George Goschen
Although enumeration of books is currently ongoing, library staff estimate the number of books to be more than 50,000
The books, mostly in Tamil, are categorised under various sections such as science, philosophy & literature