Kerala - Kochi

A library much sought after

KOCHI: Over the last five years, the EMS Cooperative Library, Kakkanad, has added around 7,000 new members.

These members have been drawn from all walks of life. Students and professionals, young and old, those looking to specialised reading and those wanting to read just for the fun of it.

The success of the Library, one of the fastest growing in the State, can be attributed to its ability to cater to all sections of the readers, says M. M. Monaye, former president of the Ernakulam District Cooperative Bank under whose leadership the library was established.

“A reading facility should be accessible to all. It should not confine itself to providing books of literature alone,” says Mr. Monaye.

He illustrates the point by saying that some time ago, a group of doctors approached the library wanting to check out if the EMS Library had a book they looked for all over the city libraries.

The number of visitors to the library on a daily basis too has been impressive, says a senior official involved in the day-to-day running of the Library. Between 250 and 300 people visit the Library on a normal day.

On Saturdays and Sundays the numbers are much higher, he said.

The EMS Library has succeeded in creating a special atmosphere, yet another reason for its increasing attraction.

Mr. Monaye does not agree with those who say that the latest developments in communication and media have spelt doom for the Book. If people are provided with the right atmosphere and the right books they will come back to reading. And, it is not the case that people watch television 24 hours a day, he adds.

Spread over three floors, the Library exudes a charm of its own. The reading spaces are well-lit and airy. The premises are clean. The library is surrounded by a large garden, big trees and paved walkways that are attractions in themselves.

In fact, the EMS Library was started as a garden library where a book-lover could make his pick and settle under a tree to read the book.

When the library was started in 1999 at the headquarters of the District Cooperative Bank it had given scope for people to cast doubt over its success and the ability of a bank to create a niche for fostering reading habits. The phenomenal growth of the Library has proved them all wrong.

The EMS Library has over 70,000 titles to date. New ones are added on a monthly basis.

The Library requires around Rs. 50 lakh annually for its maintenance. About half of this money goes into buying books, said an official of the Library.

There are also 120 journals of both national and international repute.

Besides the library section, there is a section for children’s reading and entertainment, a small theatre facility and computer and Internet access.

A section that was opened last year exclusively for the visually challenged added an entirely new dimension to the services being offered by the EMS Library.

Institutions that take care of the visually challenged have fully utilised the facility.

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