Connemara Public Library at Chennai is one of the four National Depository libraries which receive a copy of all books, news papers and periodicals published in India. Established in 1890 the library is a repository of centuries-old publications, wherein lie some of the most respected works and collections in the country.

History

The Library's beginnings go back to 1861, when hundreds of books were found surplus in the libraries of Haileybury College (where Indian Civilians were trained in England). These books were sent to the Madras Government, which in turn handed them over to the Madras Museum. Conceived on the lines of the British Museum Library, it was part of the Madras Museum till 1890, when the need for 'a free public library' prompted the then Governor of Madras, Lord Connemara, to lay the foundation.

The library was as part of a cultural complex that grew in the grounds of what was once called 'The Pantheon'. The entire complex now boasts buildings that reflect architectural unity, even while demonstrating the various stages of Indo-Saracenic development, from Gothic-Byzantine to Rajput Mughal and Southern Hindu Deccani.

Collection

Over six lakh books are available in the library. The Connemara is a place where gems can be found at every corner, but only by the discerning eye. Nowhere else can the public find free access to a 10-volume Encyclopaedia of Astronomy, Greek and Latin works, Wellesley's Despatches, A History of Oratory in Parliament 1213-1913 and many more tomes.

The new building, which was added to the Library in 1973, has a vast collection of books, a much sought after text-book section, a periodicals hall, a reference room, a video room, an entire floor for books from the Indian languages, a Braille Library and an IAS study centre. Efforts are on to fully computerise the library database, which could ensure easy access to books.

Treasures of Connemara

• The Bible (1608 edition)
• Hourtus Indicus Malabaricus 12 Volumes (1678-1703) by Rheed
• A German copy of 'Antony and Cleopatra'
• The Hebrew and Chaldean Lexicon to the Old Testament
• A Voyage to Suratt in the years 1689 (1696) by Ovington(J)
• The 1881 Census of India
• Flora Indica (1768) by Burmanni (Nicolai Laverrntii)
• An 1801 edition of Plutarch's Lives
• Beschi's "Grammar of the High Dialect of the Tamil Language"(1882)

See also

• Chennai

External link

• Connemara Public Library (http://www.connemarapubliclibrarychennai.com)