The first rays of sunlight find their home on the book covers through the tinted window glasses. Retirees, homemakers, and students eagerly follow the rays and amble through the aisles sliding their fingers through the book spines to pick their next read. The soft shuffle of newspapers, the flip of magazines, and pages from novels fill the background.
Readers sit in silence across a long wooden table placed at the centre of the renovated and reopened Goschen Library in Chintadripet. This century-old building has remained constant even as lives and neighbourhood around it changed. Its walls have witnessed readers grow older, routines change, and formats evolve. Yet, at its core, it continues to satiate an appetite for reading. Homemakers, post their morning chores, retired professionals who indulge in reading activities, and students with aspirations frequent the space.
Reader’s reunion
Goschen Library reopened its doors to bibliophiles after a brief pause for restoration, undertaken at a cost of `2.36 crore as part of its centenary celebrations. It was built on the vision of people utilising the space to cultivate skills, deepen learning, and enhance expertise.
Every morning as DB Dinakaran, the librarian, opens newly installed black gate, readers follow him taking in the surroundings — green plants, checkerboard-patterned flooring, white symmetrical pillar façade, coloured glass windows, maroon exterior walls, and the words ‘The Goschen Library’.
Often, the quiet inside the library disappears as whispering conversations emerge. Names of writers like S Ramakrishnan, Sivasankari, Lakshmi surface with familiarity and fondness as their works filled these readers’ younger days. The space acts as a reminder of days spent with magazines like Ambuli Mama and Muthu Comics.
One reader recounts how he spent his early years within these four walls while another mentions that his childhood was spent outside the library. Krishna Sah S, a member of the library since 1963, shares, “I used to visit the library weekly once. My friends and I were in a competition — who reads more books.” Meanwhile, Kesavan, an ardent reader, notes, “I finish reading three books in two days. Arivu pasi ku theeni poda mudila (I couldn’t feed my hunger for knowledge). Earlier, I wouldn’t enter this knowledge house because I liked to buy and own books. I used to stand outside and send my friends to collect books for me. With time, I started coming in, borrow books, and return. Now, it is difficult for me to step out of this place.”
Where pages still tell stories
The idea for the library took shape in the early 20th century, when Rao Sahib P Vijiaragavulu Chetty envisioned a space where knowledge would be accessible to all. The foundation stone — beside the entrance that reads ‘Rao Sahib P Vijiaragavulu Chetty’s Public Library’— was laid on January 23, 1926, by TE Moir, CSI, CIE, and the library opened its doors to the public in 1927. Named after Viscount Goschen, then Governor of Madras, the institution soon grew into a community forum where political speeches were delivered, conversations around the independence movement found a voice, and eventually resulted in the space becoming a centre for knowledge, despite plans floated to convert the library into a museum of rare materials.
Over the years, the collection grew to more than 56,000 books. But time has not been without its setbacks. The 2015 rains and floods caused significant damage, destroying nearly 2,000 books. Today, after all the renovations, the number stands at 18,000. On January 23, 2026, when the library completed the centenary year, district library officer, M Kavitha presented 50 novels to its members.
The space, now, has been reorganised into three sections such as children, women, and general. The women’s reading section, in particular, has been designed to offer privacy and encourage more visitors, especially homemakers. Dinakaran notes, “The idea behind a separate section for homemakers stemmed from the intent to encourage reading among them.”
The children’s section, with its low seating and colourful setup, feels inviting and accessible. Titles like ‘Encyclopaedia’, ‘Houses of Parliament’, ‘How to write essays’, ‘The changing role of women’ in English and some Tamil ones like Thirukkural, ‘Magizhchi kadhaigal’, and ‘Unmai Thandha Parisu’ adorn the shelves.
In the general section — on the left side of the entrance — rows of Tamil newspapers and magazines line one side, while English titles ‘Introduction to Agroforestry’, ‘Fundamentals of Auditing’, ‘A handbook on Water Scarcity’, and ‘Indian Mammals’ find their place on the other. A separate section on competitive exam guides, reference books, spiritual books, and another one for epics like the Mahabharatham and Ramayanam reflect the range of books the library caters. Journals such as Kumudam, along with about 62 others, are part of its regular subscriptions.
In a city where public libraries often lean heavily towards Tamil collections, efforts are being made here to expand English titles as well. “In most public libraries, about 95% of books are in Tamil and only 5% in English. But here, they are trying to improve the English collection as well,” he explains.
In the 100th year the addition of Wi-Fi and computer access has brought in a new set of users ranging from students preparing for CA, TNPSC, UPSC, DRB, and JEE examinations. On an average day, about 60 to 65 people walk in, nearly half of them students. With around 60 seats available, the library offers a future scope for book launches, discussions, and premiers.
The library’s affordability also plays a role in its accessibility. Membership comes at a nominal `10 annually, with a borrowing fee of `30 for two books over 15 days. Readers frequently request competitive exam books, and efforts are made to procure them. “I want to have the entire collection of books that help students prepare for competitive exams. Further, there are also plans to create a WhatsApp group to share updates on new openings, job notifications, and resources,” he says.
In the company of books
“I’ve been coming here since February,” says Koodammal Azhagu Pandian. “Now that there are computers, it’s very useful. We can access videos and e-books, and it helps a lot with preparation,” she adds. Koodammal, who is preparing for a competitive exam, usually spends one to two hours here, making the most of the limited time she has. “The librarian is helpful, he guides us like friends. It’s a calm and feasible place to study,” she notes. Among the regulars like Koodammal are long-time members who have grown alongside the library. For others, it is nostalgia that draws them back.
Despite the steady shift towards digital learning, the relevance of physical spaces like Goschen Library persists. It may no longer hold 56,000 books, but what it offers instead is a shared, quiet commitment to reading.
In its corridors, memories of the past and the events of the present exist together. As a retired person flips through a newspaper, a student highlights notes for an upcoming exam, a child browses an encyclopaedia, and somewhere along the way, the library continues to bridge the gap between people and and their thirst for knowledge.