COIMBATORE: A 49-year-old librarian from Selakarachal branch in Coimbatore has bagged the best librarian award in the district from the Directorate of Public Libraries for his contribution to the library’s development. The Grade-III librarian, V Senthilkumar, received the best librarian award of the district from school education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi in Chennai on Saturday. He has upgraded the library by introducing facilities like a digital library, and library stock room, among others at a cost of Rs 10 lakh, which he collected as aid from private parties.
Talking to TNIE, Senthilkumar, who is working in the library since 2007, said, “After my recommendation, this library was converted into a branch library in 2013. I conducted various awareness campaigns regarding the importance of reading, following which the reader base of the library increased from 500 to 2,000. The library has 18,000 books as of now and the digital library helps a lot of school and college students with their research,” he said.
“There is no full-time library in Sulthanpet block and I will try to make this the first full-time library in the area. As it is a branch library, readers can use it in the morning and evening time only. If it is turned into a full-time library, they can use it from 8 am to 8 pm,” he added. He further said that he has plans to start free coaching classes in the library for students who wish to pursue competitive examinations.