MADURAI: Kalaignar Centenary Library will be inaugurated on July 15, as all of its works have been completed, said Public Works Department officials on Thursday. Officials said, as of now, cleaning and other minor works are underway while the statue of former chief minister Karunanidhi at the entrance of the library is expected to be unveiled during the inaugural event.
They further said the construction works of the library, built at a cost of Rs 134 crore, were completed within 17 months. “The foundation stone for the library was laid last January by Chief Minister MK Stalin through video conference. An amount of Rs 60 crore was spent for procuring books, Rs 17 crore for furniture settings, and `5 crore for installing computers and other tech works.
According to the officials, the library is a six-story building, which holds a total of 3.5 lakh books comprising one lakh Tamil books and around 2.3 lakh English books. “The ground floor of the library is facilitated for Persons with Disabilities, which also has a conference hall and an art gallery.
The first floor consists of books on Kalaignar, children’s performance theatre, kids’ visual theatre, science equipment for children, and sections of periodicals and newspapers. The second floor has Tamil books while the third floor is divided into two sections -- English books and research papers and journals. On the fourth floor, students can find guidebooks for competitive exams.
This floor also has a roof garden, exclusively made for reading. On the fifth floor, people can find a collection of rare books collection, which they can avail of through the digital library service. The administration office will be on the top floor,” they said.
They further said that the basement of the library has a parking lot that can accommodate around 150 vehicles and other facilities such as lift and escalator services. “The library is fully air-conditioned and has Wi-Fi connectivity. The library, with its good ambience, will offer a good experience for readers,” they added.
Commenting on staff recruitment, the officials noted that out of 71 staff, 30 have been transferred from the Anna Centenary Library in Chennai, 15 will be recruited through the TNPSC exam and other ground staff will be recruited through outsourcing.
Six-storey building
The library is a six-story building, which holds a total of 3.5 lakh books comprising one lakh Tamil books and around 2.3 lakh English books. The ground floor of the library is facilitated for Persons with Disabilities, which also has a conference hall and an art gallery. It is fully air-conditioned and has Wi-Fi connectivity. The library, will offer a good experience for readers