Residents of Coonoor feel a pang of jealousy over losing their colonial-era library, while Ooty has secured the heritage building that houses the historic Nilgiri Library
With the retreating monsoon, residents of the Nilgiris unfolded their umbrellas and shook out their raincoats, grateful that the rain continued till the end of the Ooty Literary Festival (OLF). And every year, those of us from Coonoor who attend feel a twinge of jealousy that we have lost our library while Ooty has secured theirs.
The OLF is the only illuminated festival in the country that is held in a library. The Nilgiri Library provides a majestic backdrop, with its red ocher building and arched windows highlighted in white chunam cast. This landmark building is part of Ooty's heritage cluster, which includes Adam's Fountain, St Stephen's Church, Breeks School and the Collectorate. The library was designed by Robert Chisholm, who is credited with introducing the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture to British India.
The history of the library is intertwined with that of Ooty itself. The Europeans who made this hill town their home discovered a need for books and began subscriptions as early as 1829. The 'Neilgherry Library', as it was then known, opened in 1859 and moved to its current building ten years later.
Today the library has a collection of 60,000 books, both fiction and non-fiction. One of the prized collections is a commentary on the Bible printed in 1585 called The auncient ecclesiastical histories of the first six hundred years after Christ. This book is stored in a rather special safe to protect it from book thieves and moisture.
According to Ramkrishna Nambiar, honorary secretary of the library, the Nilgiri Library is one of the few public libraries in the country that is privately owned. A management committee oversees operations and also vets new members. Over the years, the library has been blessed with strong management committees, which have withstood attacks from land sharks eager to get their hands on the prime real estate on which the library sits. One such character, upon seeing the spacious reading room with its high ceiling and large windows, commented that this would be a good choice kalyana mandapam or wedding hall.
The members of the Ooty Library are well aware of the dangers of allowing people who have no intention of reading into the library. The fate of the Coonoor Library remains a constant reminder to us. Coonoor, just 19 km away, my hometown, once had a beautiful private library.
The European residents of Coonoor, like their neighbors in Ooty, must have felt a similar longing for books. A library was established in the Post Office Building, then moved to the Assembly Rooms (possibly Coonoor Club) and eventually found a permanent home. in a beautiful building built by FRR Stokes-Roberts of the Royal Engineers, on Club Road. The construction was completed in 1903 at a cost of ₹20,000 raised through bonds.
The members at the time must have been very pleased with the beautiful two-storey building with large windows and a balcony that ran around the top floor. The circulating library was on the ground floor and a large, well-lit reading room on the first floor. The reading room with its octagonal tables, leather armchairs and a fireplace that was lit on cold days was a delight. The building still stands on Club Road, but is enclosed and covered with climbing plants.
In its heyday, around the turn of the 20th century, the Coonoor Library had about 700 members with 18,000 books. However, in the mid-1960s, British residents left and membership declined. A senior chartered accountant and resident of Coonoor, who wished to remain anonymous, said it was likely that some members or their heirs who had contributed to the bonds would have cashed in and taken their money. A possible reason why the library was so short on cash.
There were very few Indian members of the library at that time. No conscious effort has been made to enroll new members or collect dues from existing members. An example of this is my mother's membership, which she forgot to renew. One resident said times were tough and the board decided to transfer the property to the adjacent St. Antony's High School. Only one member of that committee remains, who is now over 90.
The library and reading room on the first floor continued to function until the early 1970s. My last visit, sometime in early 1973, was quite traumatic. The librarian stood at the entrance; he took the books from me and told me that the library was closed. The school then blocked the entrance and removed the small wooden bridge that connected the library to Club Road. The story was that the library had been sold to the school. No questions were asked and no answers given.
Dr. Vasanthan Panchavaram, a retired government doctor who has documented the history of the library out of personal interest, says: “On March 3, 1902, a deed of gift was delivered by Charles Gray to the Sub-Registrar, Coonoor, in the presence of H. Simons and A. Wingrave Chemish. It is learned that the old unregistered institution had now become a society registered under Societies Registration 1860 (Act XXI). Although the land registers are clear, neither the registration number nor the year of registration of the association mentioned in the deed is available or untraceable.”
Efforts to reclaim the library building from the school began in 2016, when a philanthropist-businessman, Matthew Cherian, retired and came to live in Coonoor. In 2017, he formed another association called 'The Coonoor Public Library' under the aegis of the District Collector. Although the move was successful and the school handed over the keys of the building to the Tahsildar, the effort was futile. The next collector handed the keys back to the school with an accompanying note stating that they could continue to enjoy ownership of the building. Then Matthew Cherian died and after he was gone the movement lost momentum.
Meanwhile, the residents of Coonoor wait for the Book Fairy to wave her wand, cut the lantana bushes now growing above the entrance and let them in.
Nina Varghese is a freelance journalist from Coonoor.