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Lacks the looks but has the books
It may not be that sophisticated but the Colombo Public Library has the best stock of books in Sinhala, Tamil and English

By Kavindi Abeysekera
“The city’s public library is the eye of the city by which the citizens are able to behold the realness of their heritage, and behold the still greater greatness of their future”
- K. Nasiah
(Education and human rights in Sri Lanka)
We would all agree that libraries are needed for the development of a nation’s people.

But how far does the country’s premier state-run library fulfil the lofty aims set out in the above extract?
The Colombo Public Library came about with the amalgamation of the Colombo and Pettah libraries in 1925. At that time, with only 94 members at “Sirinivasa”, it had only three departments: the reading room, reference library and the lending library, and its entire book-stock of approximately 16,000 contained only English book.

Today, housed at Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha, the Colombo Public Library has grown into a library system with fifteen branch libraries, a Mobile Library Service, Book Box Library Service and other services. In addition to its original three sections, there are several new departments,-children’s, periodicals, newspapers and a special collection. An audio-visual library is attached although it is temporarily defunct.

Many Colombo residents are unaware of the Public Library’s services. It might lack sophistication yet it offers you a variety of Sinhala, English and Tamil books that you will hardly find in any other library. The library has a book-stock of approximately twelve-lakhs and nearly thousand or more newspapers and periodicals. Every day, 3,000 people use its services.

Its services are also very affordable. The membership fee of the Colombo Public Library is Rs. 100 for people living within city limits, Rs. 200 for non residents employed or studying within the city and Rs. 500 for non residents neither employed nor following a course of studies in the city.

The new library system encompasses fifteen branch libraries scattered throughout the city which function interactively. Thus members of the branch libraries are permitted to borrow books from the central library and members of the main library can also borrow books from the branch libraries.

The Colombo Public Library also has a separate section for children. As chief librarian, Ms L. P Karunawathi, says “The focal point is the child-readership, for that is where you must start.” They have several plans underway to attract a healthy child-readership and have joined hands with IBM in an effort to provide scientific knowledge to children.

For underprivileged children, the Book Box Library service established with the idea of providing library facilities for children of slum and shanty dwellers has proved a great boon. Membership in this mobile library service costs just two rupees and some 14,200 children benefit. Vans carry the boxes with the books to 21 service points and signal their arrival with a special siren. Children no sooner they hear the siren, rally around the van enthusiastically.

Some have just returned from school and are in their uniforms. Twelve-year-old Danushika Dulanjali, a Book Box member at the Wanathamulla service point said, “We like to read books and because of this project we get the chance to read more and most of the time we exchange these books. My sister is also a member of this project.”

The Mobile Library Service is another facility that the Colombo Public Library provides for city dwellers who are unable to visit the central library or any of the branch libraries. It has 42 service points located at housing schemes, weekend fairs, Sunday schools, banks, office complexes and the like and boasts over 6000 active members. The vehicles house a mini library and once in two months the book stock is changed, thus providing a variety of books for its members.

“This service provides us with the opportunity of being active members in a library which is otherwise inconvenient,” says Ms Kanthilatha Wickramasinghe, an officer at the Building Materials Corporation (BMC), who is an active member of this Mobile Library System.

The Special Collection of the Colombo Public Library has many rare books. At its inception it contained a Sri Lankan collection of rare books. Today it has a collection of books in the Japanese language, books on Indian culture and socio-economic conditions and a collection donated by Sir Arthur C. Clarke.
The library service provided for the visually handicapped is another speciality. A special collection for the visually handicapped is located at the periodical section in the ground floor of the library. The Braille collection in this section is available both for reference and lending purposes and is a free service.

A career-guidance section and internet service are also available for members.
Yet despite all these innovations, the library is faced with a trying situation. Says chief librarian Ms Karunawathi, “The dearth of staff is a huge obstacle in yielding a quality service. The government has not recruited any library personnel after the 1982 cadre, only replacements have been taken in 1997.” The work-force is not sufficient to meet the growing demand for their service, she feels.

There was a time when extra activities — film and video shows, story telling, lectures etc were carried out at the library premises very enthusiastically. But these activities have ground to a halt. Isn’t it time that the government focused attention on upgrading the Colombo Public Library?

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