This vibrant Authorities faculty library in Tamil Nadu makes studying soulful

The partitions bear work of butterflies particular to the forests surrounding Erode, that contains Hasanur, Kadambur, and Anthiyur forests
| Photograph Credit score: Particular association

It’s the butterflies that we first spot. They hover over the partitions of the library as work, their colors lighting up the house. Within the centre, is a clay sculpture of Tamil creator Ku Alagirisami, made by Chennai artist Koilpitchai Prabakar. Outdoors, on a wall, reads Author Ku Alagirisamy Centenary Faculty Library. On adjoining partitions, are large sketches of Russian writers Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostovesky. The library, the newest addition to the Authorities Larger Secondary Faculty in Arachalur, a city close to Erode, is a departure from these at many Authorities-run establishments.

It was began by Tiruvannamalai-based Cuckoo Motion For Youngsters, a group that works throughout Tamil Nadu taking the humanities, tales, and Nature to youngsters throughout strata, with concentrate on rural youngsters. “That is the centenary 12 months of Alagirisami, and we opened the library on September 23, the final day of the centenary,” says Sivaraj from Cuckoo.

Why this specific faculty? “That is the place my Physics trainer OV Saravana Kumar taught us what training actually is,” says Sivaraj, who’s an alumina. Saravana Kumar, who retired because the headmaster, would arrive lengthy earlier than the kids did within the morning, decide up the broom and clear the bogs very first thing. “He believed youngsters, particularly ladies, ought to have entry to wash bogs, and was among the many first lecturers within the State to put in sanitary serviette dispensers in a Authorities faculty bathroom,” he provides.

‘Physics Sir’, as he’s popularly recognized within the city, planted many timber within the campus throughout his time, and created a system that ensured all of the vegetation and timber within the campus benefited from rain water. It was Saravana Kumar who inaugurated the library. It has over 4,000 titles in Tamil and English, starting from books by Anton Chekov and B Jeyamohan, to Tulika’s and Pratham’s image books. “We’ve assigned a separate part for books for lecturers, and one other for kids within the teen years,” explains Sivaraj, including that contribution additionally got here from Yaan, an Erode-based charitable belief.

The library is about to digitise uncommon books which have gone out of print, that might be made obtainable totally free. The butterflies on the partitions have been picked out by Nature fanatic Yashok Sivasubramaniam. These embrace indigo flash, double-banded judy, golden angle, pale palm dart, Indian tawny rajah, and Indian skipper, species particular to the forests surrounding Erode, that contains Hasanur, Kadambur, and Anthiyur forests.

“These are butterflies that youngsters listed here are conversant in,” explains S Madhumanjari, an architect with Cuckoo, who exhibits us across the library. A crafts workshop is in progress once we go to, and trainer coach Okay Samuel, who’s expert in folks arts and origami, is exhibiting ladies from lessons VI, VII, and VIII easy methods to fold seven forms of caps with newspaper. Laughter fills the house as the ladies attempt on their caps. The library can also be set to host related occasions, all of which can concentrate on encouraging youngsters to select up a e book from its cabinets and skim.

Sivaraj hopes that the mannequin is replicated in faculties throughout Tamil Nadu. “For a kid, a library ought to be an area the place magic occurs. This can be due to a narrative by Helen Keller or a sketch by Manohar Devadoss present in its many books,” he says. They selected to color butterflies within the library as a result of the bugs are the results of a change, one which he hopes may also occur within the youngsters who go to it.