From the Library

For those who have never visited The British Council library before, let me tell you, it’s a wonderful place to learn as well as have fun. There are several rows of books ranging from accountancy to zoology. Most of these books are British publications although you will find an occasional American or Indian publication. Not to mention, they’ve almost all the top journals and newspapers of Britain.  Anyone with a laptop is granted free Wi-Fi access and for those of us who do not have laptops, there are twenty four computers here with internet facility which may use. Out of the twenty four, eight are reserved for children and they always seem to know where to find the online games whether they are five or twelve years old.

 

There is a room filled up with books for children from five till teens. This chamber is soundproof for these delightful tiny tots usually read out loud as they are initial readers, not to forget the I-will-wail-till-you-get-me-that-book kiddos and an occasional I-will-wail-no-matter-what-you-say-or-do child. The charming little ones can choose from story books which have large pictures and large words to books on arts and craft, history, geography, weather, animals and dinosaurs. I have to be honest, I have learnt a lot from borrowing these books. The older children can choose from a variety of science fiction and much other variety of novels (this is where I spend the bulk of my time). These are some of the many other things that I have no time to mention about. Oh yeah, the café is really good as well.

 

Hi. This is Karthik again and it’s a beautiful Saturday afternoon and I am sitting here at The British Council library, waiting for a friend to arrive. Earlier when I used to come here, I generally head for the book stands, pick out a couple of books, one on advertising, another magazine for looking at the British print advertisements. But today, I am sitting in front of a computer because of my new fondness for blogging.

 

And Saturdays are usually the most crowded days since children have their school offs and their parents can bring them here. The working people who have borrowed books generally come on Saturdays to return, renew or get new books. What is it in the library that attracts anyone is the fact that everyone can walk in and read any book or journal they like whether they are members or not. You might also want to have a look at the number of dictionaries they’ve got, open them and look into them if you have the time. Also they’ve a photo copier machine which you can use to make copies of pages from their books.

 

And now I have to finish this blog because my friend is here and I don’t want to keep her waiting. If I’ve interested you enough about the Council library, I can vouch that it is definitely worth a visit (probably even get a membership to borrow books of your own).

 

The British Council in Chennai is located at 737, Anna Salai. Their working hours are from Monday till Saturday, 11 am to 7 pm. Contact no is 42050600. Website – http://www.britishcouncil.org .E-Mail – chennai.enquiry@in.britishcouncil.org . 

 

Cheers and Happy Reading,

 

Karthik