Archives for art

IT'S LIKE any other building in a residential locality - completely nondescript and generally peaceful, with (sometimes) kids playing in one house and a dog barking in another. But on the first floor, to the left of a flight of stairs, you find a flat which is the home for inhabitants of a different kind - books. There is such a wealth of information here that you will not feel like leaving the place in a hurry. Books on subjects ranging from temple architecture to folk arts bring alive forgotten crafts and heritage. You could stumble upon anything from the history of vegetarianism to the charting of the Cauvery, a rare 1961 census of South Indian festivals to coffee table tomes and magazines. And keeping you company at the Madras Craft Foundation (MCF) Library would be the armchair traveller as well as the studious researcher.

The MCF is a non-profit organisation set up to preserve and promote South Indian culture, including architecture, craft and folk arts. The library was established in 1984 with a collection of nearly 200 books. Now there are about 2,500 books, some rare and out of print. They have been classified according to Dewey Decimal Classification system and catalogued according to AACR-II rules using the dbase III plus programme. Books are available only for reference. However, no fee is charged, not even a mandatory membership fee for those who wish to enrich themselves with the treasure of knowledge.

About 50 journals are also available. Some of these are subscribed to and some others are received through donations. Indexing of journal articles is done to help users in their study. Mrs. Pat Alter's contributions to the library in this area are particularly noteworthy.

The system is meticulous and efficient. The collection includes back issues of rare journals like the Marg, Sangeet Natak, National Centre for Performing Arts, Journal of Indian Textile History and so on. Some of them have come from philanthropists like D. M. Parikh, who has also donated his rare collection of books on arts and crafts to the library. There are also about 12,000 photographs with the negatives preserved in imported acid free sleeves. Negative numbers are assigned to each roll and photograph. Contact sheets are maintained according to subject and shown to the users with prints made at nominal rates, on request.

The library also maintains paper clippings (mounted on thick sheets of paper and indexed) and classifies them according to subject before filing. There are also about 150 video cassettes (with titles and serial numbers) on subjects like folk dance, performances at the Dakshina Chitra Heritage Museum, the traditional arts and so on. At present, these are only for the organisation's use, and not for lending but the MCF plans to transfer them to CDs, which would help researchers.

The aim is to satisfy each user with the collection and play a vital role in guiding and encouraging students, researchers and others. The MCF wants the library to develop into a well- established archival centre. Having made access easy for users with photocopying and printing facilities, it now aims at increasing the collection, computerising it, setting up user terminals and digitising the archives.

Resource sharing is also being planned through library networks. Librarian Indumathi says, "Our library is still in a growing phase and has a long way to go. We would be happy if people come forward to donate books. We are in need of funds to buy more books and maintain our archives."

It's a place which is always a pleasure to visit. A home for the books, which makes its readers feel at home.

The MCF Library is located at Maduram Flats, 6, Urur Olcott Road, Besant Nagar. It is open to the public from Monday to Friday between 10 am and 5 pm and on Saturdays between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

LALITHA SRIDHAR

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