ALAPPUZHA: LS Library at Nooranad, founded by father of the Library Movement in Kerala P N Panicker, which houses around 25,000 books and rare palm-leaf manuscripts, is in ruins. Set up at the Leprosy Sanatorium at Nooranad, it was established on July 1, 1949, the day of the unification of the Thiru-Kochi state.
Now, the treasure trove of knowledge is on the verge of destruction after being closed down completely. A librarian, appointed by the state government, was sacked when Covid hit the globe.
According to John, an inmate of the sanatorium, the library was the only source of knowledge for the inmates.
“Though we submitted many memorandums to the sanatorium authorities and the district administration, no action was taken yet to reopen it,” said John, a native of Karakonam, who has been living in the asylum for the past 37 years.
“When I reached the asylum 37 years ago, there were around 1,800 inmates and mostly everyone used to reach out to the library for gaining knowledge. Now, the number of inmates has dipped to 80. Many newspapers, books of eminent writers in both Malayalam and English and several palm leaf manuscripts written in the period of the aristocratic rule in Travancore and Kochi were available in the library,” he said.
The inmates of the asylum had visited various places in the state during the period of 1960 to 1980, after the social reformation movement. The political leaders had asked the patients to go to various places and educate people to shed taboos associated with the disease.
“During their journey, the inmates collected books from the public and some even bought them for managing the sanatorium library. Subsequently, the number of books in the library reached around 25,000. The state government then constructed a building to store the books and it became the largest library in the district. Hundreds, even from outside the state, thronged the library to collect books and carry out research works,” remembers John.
The leprosy sanatorium was established by Sree Chithira Thirunal Bala Rama Varma in 1934. The reading movement also gained popularity in the region as Mahatma Gandhi and many other Congress leaders visited the state during the period, giving a massive boost to the hobby. When P N Panicker visited the sanatorium, the inmates requested him to set up a library.
“Following the request of the inmates, the library was established by him as LS Library. It was one of the first libraries in the district,” said Thamarakulam panchayat member R Rajitha.