How Libraries Are Getting Their
Groove Back
No dusty book cases. No straight-backed chairs. Best of all, no
one telling you to Ssh! Today’s readers have it better than ever
WEEKENDS AT Trilogy at Raghuvanshi
Mills in Lower Parel are clearly family days. Pre-teens are in one corner,
older people occupy the others, but everyone is absorbed in a book. It’s pretty
much the same at Just Books in Nerul, while at Leaping Windows in Versova and
The Hive in Bandra, young people are sprawled on rugs and cushions or curled up
in nooks and crannies, each with their face in a book.
These places are not bookshops.
They’re libraries. But not the kind you’d remember from your school days. There
isn’t a single stern librarian demanding utter silence. These libraries believe
reading is about entertainment and relaxation. So Trilogy, which opened last
December and now has more than 100 members from Mumbai and Thane, is a library
but also part-bookstore and part-event space hosting poetry projects, workshops
on comparative mythology, and regional film screenings. Just Books, a library
chain across 11 cities, with five outlets in Mumbai, runs on a bookstore-like
system, complete with a ‘New Arrivals’ section and touchscreen search
facilities. Leaping Windows, which specialises in manga comics and graphic
novels, offers a delicious café menu, and The Hive, a cultural hub and
performance venue, offers 3,000 titles – or you can bring your own book to
read. Even older, established libraries such as the one at the Nehru Centre,
have relaxed their rules, all to draw dedicated readers in, and create new
ones. Being a member of a library isn’t what it used to be.
LET’S GET PHYSICAL
“Today, libraries need to be active
social spaces,” says Arati Desai, librarian and documentation officer at Nehru
Centre Library, which was moved into another building, renovated and reopened
in November 2013. “We demarcate a ‘Silence Zone’ and open up the rest of the
space for group readings, TED Talk screenings, writing workshops, and literary
activities.”
At the core of the makeover is
personal contact with physical books and events. In an age of online
information and online friendships; accessing tons of books, meeting fellow
readers or being drawn into events and performances in casual settings is a
great draw. Indeed, the central aim of Trilogy, say owners Meethil and Ahalya
Momaya, is books, writers and readers. The Momayas cater to each member
personally, recommending books, and keeping the readers’ excitement and
interest alive.
TRILOGY: Library, Bookstore &
Literary Events, Lower Parel. Good writers, rare titles, books by Indian
publishers such as Yoda Press and Mapin Publishing. Trilogy offers a fresh look
at travel, military history, warfare, and city history books. They have even
made their own classifications for books with common themes, such as ‘Connected
Lives’, ‘Feel-Good’, and ‘Dangerous Secret’, and also offer books on books, on
writing, and on authors.
CHECK OUT: A History of the World in
100 Objects by Neil MacGregor; and the Murty Classical Library Collection
AT: Building No 28, First Floor,
Above Sanghi Motors, Raghuvanshi Mills Compound. Lower Parel. Call 8080590590.
LOG ON TO: www. teltrilogy.com
JUST BOOKS, KANDIVLI, POWAI, NERUL,
THANE
Members of this circulating library
get access to over six lakh titles. They can also borrow or return a book in
any city at any time. There is lots of space for browsing, it is well-lit,
airconditioned, and also offers a bench and a few chairs for reading before you
choose a book. The radio tags system makes it easy for members to search for a
specific book.
CHECK OUT: Its collection of books
in regional languages.
LOG ON TO: www. justbooksclc.com
High ceilings, lots of space, wood
interiors, and tranquil landscaping make this reference public library an
inviting option. Sit at any of the community tables, or take a private booth
for surfing, writing, or watching videos. Great for those working on novels or
long projects.
CHECK OUT: Select works by
Jawaharlal Nehru, a rare collection of books on Mahatma Gandhi, periodicals and
journals, and for research, pre-made ‘info packs’ on topics such as JN Foreign
Policy – a compilation of books, articles and web sites.
AT: Nehru Centre, 1st Floor,
Discovery of India Building, Dr Annie Besant Road Worli. Call 24964676.
LOG ON TO: www.nehru-centre.org
This simple neighbourhood library
has separate rooms for adults and children, with a collection of over 13,000
books, comics and magazines. Colourful throw cushions, reading nooks, desks and
chairs, and its quiet location make it a good choice for readers as well as
students in the area. They also sell books very cheap.
CHECK OUT: Their active literary
events calendar that includes book clubs, film clubs, and workshops for kids
and adults.
AT: Princess Building, D’Monte Park
Road, Near Bandra Gymkhana, Bandra (W). Call 26411497.
LOG ON TO: www.mcubedlibrary.com
LITTLE FREE LIBRARY
Part of the Little Free Library
worldwide movement that started in the US in 2009 to encourage book exchanges
and reading habits, in essence, this is a box of books, kept in a busy
neighbourhood, from which people can dip in, take a book and leave a book in
exchange – absolutely free. The first one in India is located in Bandra (W)
inside the small ALM Park where a tiny cabinet shaped like a giant book has
been built, and it is divided into two shelves – one for taking a book and the
other for returning a book. It is free and the door of the cabinet is always
unlocked.
AT: ALM Park, D’Monte Park Road,
Near Bandra Gymkhana, Bandra (W).
LOG ON TO: www.
littlefreelibrary.org
BOOK EXCHANGE CLUB OF MUMBAI
The three-year-old enterprise has
almost 1,300 members and has held more than 80 meet-ups to swap books and get
like-minded readers to meet. They also organise the Take-A Book-Leave-A-Book
exchange at BRU World Cafés across Mumbai.
EMAIL: BookExchangeClub
Mumbai@gmail.com
LEAPING WINDOWS
This library and café in a shaded
bylane offers an inviting silence. You can choose to sit at the indoor or
outdoor sections of the café, or take the spiral wooden staircase down to the
basement, which houses the library with open shelves, posters, and comfortable
floor seating with chatais and throw cushions.
CHECK OUT: Its rare and fun
collection of graphic novels and comics; and its soon-to-launch new menu at the
café.
AT: 3, Corner View, off Yari Road,
opposite Bianca Towers, Versova, Andheri (W). Call: 26329133.
LOG ON TO: www.leapingwindows.com
LIBRARYWALA.COM
This online library that launched in
2007 now has over 75,000 book titles and 9,000 members including 90 corporate
houses in Mumbai, Pune, and Bangalore. It focuses on cost, convenience,
collection, and choice and offers doorstep delivery. Librarywala.com will soon
expand to Delhi-NCR, Gujarat, and Kolkata.
A CROWDSOURCED LIBRARY
Copywriter Pushpendra Pandya started
India’s first crowdsourced library in 2013 and has since acquired over 5,000
books in donation. Each time he receives a new book, he emails his list of
members, and if someone is interested, he physically delivers the book or sets
up a midway meeting point – for free. He has more than 45 members, and is
looking to open a library in Vasai to house all the books.
EMAIL: filly@gmail.com.
CLAP SHARE
The recently launched booksharing
app and site, Clap Share helps you exchange books “so to read a book, you don’t
need to buy it. You can borrow it from someone who owns it,” says IIT-Bombay
graduate and co-founder Ashish Bhansali. “We want to encourage the culture of
sharing.”
How it works: Search for a book. The
app helps locate another user who owns the book, and the Clap Share team
procures the book from user A and delivers (and picks it up) to user B for a
rental charge (25 per cent of the cost of the book) and a delivery fee ( 25,
pick-up is free).
The perks: No membership or annual
fee. Just pay for the book you order. They will even order a book for you if
you can’t find a title. If you have books that you would like to lend, send it
to Clap Share. The app is available on Google Play for Android phones, or you
can log on to: www.clapshare.com
The Hive, was already a community
space, that decided to create a community of readers as well. “We did not want
to ‘enforce’ the reading habit, but wanted people to engage with books, book
clubs and storytelling sessions,” explains Sharin Bhatti, co-owner of The Hive.
“People are always looking for something different to do, and we are trying to
make reading a part of that. The approach had to be different as we are a
generation that is averse to slowing down. So we have approached it with a
community focus.”
The Hive’s crowdsourced collection
of books includes subjects like art, cinema, poetry, management and short
fiction for kids. The draw at this casual reading space is to get lost with a
book inside its 6,000 sq ft bungalow space, with a chance of collaborating or
hanging out with like-minded folk.
ACCESS IS KEY
The idea, of course, is to get
people interested in reading again, or actually (because reading is not really
a dying activity no matter what pessimists say) to make books more accessible.
“The avenues to find books are
limited in the city; we don’t have enough bookstores,” say the Momayas. “Plus,
you can’t keep buying books. One of our members said that as a kid he’d cycle
to his neighbourhood library, pick up a book, read it, and go back in the
evening to return it. But his son, even with time to read, and a cycle, has no
place to go to check out books. An avid reader will find a way to read no
matter what. But for a casual reader, access to books is important.”
And because casual readers outnumber
avid readers, libraries have to be attractive, both in terms of the facilities
they offer, and how welcoming they look. “We understood that if we didn’t
change, people would stop coming,” says Desai. “So changing the ambience was
very important. Nobody wants to come to a dusty, damp and poorly lit place
anymore. So we created a garden-like ambience, and it is comfortable with
landscaping and air-conditioning. We now allow students to come in with their
own study material, and we are open for a longer duration on a few Saturdays of
the month. Our quarterly figures show a growth in number of visitors; now there
is a regular stream of people walking in, and usually people are waiting at the
door every morning when we open.”
CHECK
OUT: The complete Artform and Osian
series of journals, an extensive cinema research collection, and self-published
authors.
AT: 50-A, Huma Mansion, opposite
Ahmed Bakery, Chuim Village Road, Khar Danda, Khar (W).
EMAIL: community@ alivehive.org
HTBR16AUG15
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