How libraries are getting a new shelf life in pandemic

You know I’m thriving, when I’m flipping through the musky fragrance of an old, dusty book, says Prabhu Viswanathan. Until the pandemic struck, the retired Chennai businessman would be found at the Madras Literary Society almost every week, or on a hunt for first editions, political biographies and collectibles at nooks and corners of the city best known to him.For steadfast bibliophiles like Prabhu – who “wouldn’t touch a Kindle at 90,” the pandemic has been a period of cruel withdrawal from the romance and reverie of that experience. With lockdown restrictions, many libraries have been forced to shut their doors forever. And even those that have managed to stay afloat are struggling for subscriptions to survive. However, several initiatives have been launched in the city to take the reading experience to patrons and attract newer readers, while also creating unique cultural experiences to rekindle the romance of physical books after a year of excessive digital consumption. medium86034856“During the first wave, we associated with a lot of libraries, ensuring that memberships were renewed. We showed our support to the local lending libraries and even smaller ones,” says Thirupurasundari Sevvel, founder of Nam Veedu, Nam Oor, Nam Kadhai, a social history group, which has also been creating various maps of Chennai – from tea kadais to old lanes. “We had taken children on a tour of all the libraries in 2015. Since we had all that data, last August we checked they are still functional and created an e-map,” says Thirupurasundari, adding that there are around 300 libraries they have mapped, both established and free smaller ones. “We sent the map to schools and encouraged them to support these establishments.”But then the second wave of the pandemic broke out and libraries had to close. “So recently we printed out the map and have been distributing it. We want people to continue patronising these places,” she says. medium86034970Libraries have also come up with creative ways to stay relevant during the pandemic. “Though I have temporarily suspended operations at my #Stories Library Café in K K Nagar during the pandemic, my mobile library has been still very much in demand,” says Gopi Sampath, who started the library on wheels around eight years ago. “I have a few hundred members. Many people have turned to reading during the pandemic and though some read e-books, there are those who still prefer physical books, especially people aged 40 and above. Also within families that love reading, the one Kindle in the house may be used by youngsters, but the others still need reading material.”Companies and new housing complexes are also requesting his services, says Gopi. “In March, a housing complex in Medavakkam asked me to set up a library in their clubhouse. Companies also want my mobile library to come to their campuses so that their staff can borrow books,” says Gopi, adding that they sanitise their books and van regularly. medium86034761But perhaps the most isolated from any tactile learning during the pandemic are the kids, who have been spending more screen time than they ever had the luxury to do, before 2020. And that’s why Thirupurasundari, who is also the general secretary of Madras Literary Society (MLS), along with artist-architects Srishti Prabhakar and Muhilan Murugan decided to take storybooks and puzzles to children across the city in autorickshaws – completing close to 72 such trips over the last year. “The intention was also to offer a livelihood to our autorickshaw annas as well as local chai and snack sellers in the neighbourhoods we went to,” says Thirupurasundari. “We sanitised our books and games and picked street corners to do impromptu readings. We always had a set of books that the kids could borrow,” she says.Another concept that has been actively filling the gap is the pop-up library – curated as part of social or cultural initiatives at handpicked public spaces.Earlier this month, the Chennai Photo Biennale’s Learning Lab that promotes photographic art, launched ‘Papertrail’, a series of pop-up photobook libraries, reading rooms, and photobook shops across eight cities in India. Their locations are also venues established on a countercultural vein, such as the Naushad Ali designer store in Puducherry, G5A, a Mumbai non-profit promoting independent arts, and Museo Camera, a centre for photographic arts in Gurugram. medium86034520In some other homebred initiatives, pop-up libraries are often the catalysts offering books a full and deserving shelf life, by taking them to as many readers as possible – like the self-help library set up by 30-year-old Ngurang Meena at a street corner at Mizoram's Nirjuli town in August last year.Similarly, when Pune youngsters Priyanka Chaudhari and Abhishek Awchar started the Open Library Movement two years ago, they placed a glass shelf with 100 donated books of all kinds inside a playground in Pune. “Our mission was simple – we didn’t want any book to reach the scrap dealer before it was read by at least 25 to 30 people,” says Abhishek.Today, their movement has grown across Maharashtra covering villages in Vidharbha and Marathwada, in addition to smaller chapters in Gujarat, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh. “We have 100 volunteers who have reached 55,000 readers,” says Abhishek. Their bookshelves stand at traffic junctions, outside schools, and important landmarks in villages where people can freely take the books they like and give back some of their own. medium86036573On the other hand, the physical libraries that have opened their doors once again say that though book lovers continue to drop in, they have to put a cap on the numbers coming in. “This cinema library was established by Pa Ranjith for assistant directors and aspiring filmmakers to access books on and by famous filmmakers, and filmmaking,” says Murugan Manthiram of Koogai Thiraippada Iyakkam in Valsaravakkam. “We used to conduct movie screenings and discussions. We have stopped conducting events during the pandemic but people still drop in to read.”Especially after the pandemic, we must probably warm up to the idea of a library as a space unbound by physical constraints, believe book lovers. “While brick and mortar libraries are irreplaceable repositories of reference and knowledge, any place that can create a cultural consensus in its residents can be called a library – an old book store or a street shop – where there are all kinds of books, and conversations initiated around them.”