A Date with SFV Librarian

“No Lunch before 1 pm. There is no cricket today, and I would like to catch up with my Kannada serial, “Magalu Janaki”,” declared Aunty uncharitably. For me, I had read the newspaper earlier, and have enough material on CBI, Rafale, Sabarimalai, RBI Versus Centre, to take on my other senior citizens in the evening meet.

“Probably I should visit our SFV Library. They had opened it in April when I was away, and I had never been there.” In any case, it is better than: “An idle mind is a Devil’s workshop.”

An infectious smile greeted me as I set foot yesterday. That was Ms Aparna Chandar, of Oak 2082.  She was holding the fort. I am not sure if technically she is one of the 11 members of the Library’s Core Group or of the 20-odd volunteers, but certainly she exuded confidence in all the answers she gave. Bravo.

First impression is the best impression, and Aparna did her quota in full measure. The tiny messages hung all around did the rest to set a right Library ambience. Here are some:

“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of Library.”

“Reading can take you places you have never been before.”  “A Good Book has no ending.“ “A book stays with you till the end even if: Narnia disappears; Voldemort dies; Percy drops his sword; Katniss lowers her bow; Valentine surrenders; or Alice is awake.” Aren’t these enough to make you feel your day is already made?

The Library has a collection of 1500 books – all donated by SFVians. Nearly 1000 are ‘usable’. The others await segregation. More shelves, bookracks are required for that – donation or purchase. Incidentally, all the existing almirahs, shelves, book racks are unmistakably donations from SFVians. More gestures won’t go amiss, in other words.

The Library has both reading and lending facilities. Reading facility suits better those who wish to browse through magazines available in different languages – subscribed to by the Library. The avid readers avail of the lending facility through monthly subscriptions. There are over 100 subscribers - one in every five families now in SFV, that is. Good start for one that is less than a year old.

Other activities include organizing puppet shows and others for children. Right now they are organizing a Diya Making class on the eve of Diwali. They have in-house talent to impart these trainings.

The collection includes Tolstoy, Charles Dickens, Agatha Christie, Jeffrey Archer, David Baldacci, to Enid Blyton, Whimpy Kids, Harry Potter, to Sudha Murthy, Chetan Bhagat, Amish’s trilogy, to Vedanta Treatise, Bhagavat Gita as it is, etc.

What might be the genre that subscribers normally prefer? “Well, children prefer Whimpy Kids, Enid Blyton…, young adults go for detective and thriller varieties; the grown ups engineering and non-fiction, while the elderly religious books.” That sounds more like a television-interview answer, I felt.

Name one subscriber who borrows the maximum number of books. “I would bet on Abhinav, Vijetha’s son, of Oak. And his favourite is Whimpy Kids.”

In general how do Indian authors fare vis a vis others?  Indian authors enjoy an edge over others, she said, without a second thought.

Feel like rushing to Library right now? Wait. They open on Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and Sundays – one hour each in the morning and evening. And, better go prepared with cash and a passport size photo to fill the application form.

Yes, a senior-citizen couple who had moved in exactly two days back, were all eager to survey. Fell in love with it instantly and wanted to fill up the subscription form on the spot. Alas, they didn’t have photos. And the good thing about them is that as soon as they unpack their goods, the first thing they plan is to donate a host of religious and Kannada books. “Mind you,” he told Aparna,  “you are getting a better lot, because we donated many books just before leaving.”

“Better late than never,” I felt about my visit, and mentally thanked Aunty for insisting on having her TV time. “Also, got a new senior citizen friend, in the bargain,” I said to myself as I hurried home, now a little hungry.