This librarian has treasure trove of Tamil books

Chennai: His library may be only six years old but his passion to promote literary works in Tamil is much older. A. Ramanan’s library in Urapakkam has magazines that are over a century old. “I spent over Rs 3 lakh from my savings to set the library up. I also get Tamil magazines like Thendral, London Murasu, which are published in the U.S. and UK, for the library,” Ramanan said.

A 66-year-old retired government employee, he featured in the Limca Book of Records in 2005 for having the largest collection of Tamil books and magazines.

In 2010, he started this library to help Tamil scholars and students. He aims to get into the Guinness World Records. “Nowadays, youngsters don’t read books in their regional languages. I have been collecting magazines and books in the hope that people read those and I wish to help preserve and promote Tamil literary works,” said Ramanan.

When he entered the Limca Book of Records, he had a collection of 1,706 books and magazines, with the oldest magazine dating to 1917. Now, his library has over 7,000 books in subjects like literature, social science, arts and spirituality.
 Ramanan says his family has been supportive. “I want the future generations to take pride in Tamil works,” he said.

Visitors to his library are few but he doesn’t mind. He has put up his phone number outside the library so that they can call him before coming and borrow books for free.

Despite internet’s popularity, libraries will remain. “Kindle and eBooks cannot match the joy of reading a book,” he said. “I find it hard to maintain the library. It would be good if the government recognized my efforts and aided in running it,” he added.