We change.. We grow.. We mature.. We learn..
In short, we evolve continuously and so does everything around us. Some survive through the process on their own. Some stand intact because we make sure they do. While some perish or begin to perish because we no longer care. When we are always on the run we often forget or ignore the fact that the things we let to disappear due to our own ignorance and carelessness, are actual treasures which once lost can never be rebuilt to its originality.
One such treasure which is slowly deteriorating day by day to reach its end and finally disappear like it never existed is the Madras Literary Society - One of the oldest lending libraries of the South that houses some of the greatest collections as old as those from 17th century, including Aristotle's Opera Omnia in Greek and Latin, published in 1619. It was once a place most visited by Subhash chandra Bose, Annie Besant, and many others. I have shared links at the end of the article about MLS and it's history, if you are interested to know more about it.
As I went through my mails, on a Monday morning, one caught my eye. It was different from other invites. It was a call for volunteers to revamp the Madras Literary Society. I quickly registered for it and as always was my practice, I tried to first locate it in the map so I can find my way easily without wasting time on the roads of Chennai. I was shocked to find no matches in Google Maps. Madras Literary Society, which once was and is still a storehouse of many significant historic documentations was not there in the maps! I simply googled and found my way but couldn't come out of the shock.
The purpose of this article is not to narrate my experience as a volunteer in this project, but to bring to everyone's notice that there is a library out there, not covered in the Maps, sometimes conveniently forgotten by the securities at the gates of DPI Complex where MLS is situated. It is dying and many important documentations, books on religion, history, fiction, political science dating back to 18th and 19th century will be lost with it if left unattended. I saw the condition of the books there myself, felt the need to work for it's preservation and hence, this post.
A group of like-minded people have started an initiative called "The Library Project" the details of which are given in their FB Page(Link given below). It has two objectives. First to make available the approximate 55,000 books available to the larger audience and second, to identify books that are of literary value and which need to be restored on a priority basis before they are lost forever (Source: Madras Literary Society, Facebook). This is a call to all those who feel the need to protect, preserve and make available these assets that span a century or more for the generations to come.
Below are the links about MLS:
Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/MadrasLiterarySociety/
Times Of India article on MLS: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Forgotten-library-200-year-old-Madras-Literary-Society/articleshow/31979699.cms
The Hindu on MLS: http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/survivors-of-time-pages-from-the-past/article2512070.ece
BBC: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-38246584
In short, we evolve continuously and so does everything around us. Some survive through the process on their own. Some stand intact because we make sure they do. While some perish or begin to perish because we no longer care. When we are always on the run we often forget or ignore the fact that the things we let to disappear due to our own ignorance and carelessness, are actual treasures which once lost can never be rebuilt to its originality.
One such treasure which is slowly deteriorating day by day to reach its end and finally disappear like it never existed is the Madras Literary Society - One of the oldest lending libraries of the South that houses some of the greatest collections as old as those from 17th century, including Aristotle's Opera Omnia in Greek and Latin, published in 1619. It was once a place most visited by Subhash chandra Bose, Annie Besant, and many others. I have shared links at the end of the article about MLS and it's history, if you are interested to know more about it.
As I went through my mails, on a Monday morning, one caught my eye. It was different from other invites. It was a call for volunteers to revamp the Madras Literary Society. I quickly registered for it and as always was my practice, I tried to first locate it in the map so I can find my way easily without wasting time on the roads of Chennai. I was shocked to find no matches in Google Maps. Madras Literary Society, which once was and is still a storehouse of many significant historic documentations was not there in the maps! I simply googled and found my way but couldn't come out of the shock.
The purpose of this article is not to narrate my experience as a volunteer in this project, but to bring to everyone's notice that there is a library out there, not covered in the Maps, sometimes conveniently forgotten by the securities at the gates of DPI Complex where MLS is situated. It is dying and many important documentations, books on religion, history, fiction, political science dating back to 18th and 19th century will be lost with it if left unattended. I saw the condition of the books there myself, felt the need to work for it's preservation and hence, this post.
A group of like-minded people have started an initiative called "The Library Project" the details of which are given in their FB Page(Link given below). It has two objectives. First to make available the approximate 55,000 books available to the larger audience and second, to identify books that are of literary value and which need to be restored on a priority basis before they are lost forever (Source: Madras Literary Society, Facebook). This is a call to all those who feel the need to protect, preserve and make available these assets that span a century or more for the generations to come.
Below are the links about MLS:
Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/MadrasLiterarySociety/
Times Of India article on MLS: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Forgotten-library-200-year-old-Madras-Literary-Society/articleshow/31979699.cms
The Hindu on MLS: http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/survivors-of-time-pages-from-the-past/article2512070.ece
BBC: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-38246584
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| Madras Literary Society(Src: images.google.com) |
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| Inside the Library |
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| Dusting work in progress |
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| Volunteers involved in cataloging the books |
