A Library in Jaffna
Shareeq is too young to remember much of the war years. But for another patron, 75-year-old Rajenthiran Selvanayagam, spending time at the library is a peaceful contrast to that era. He lost his wife to the war. His son went mad. Selvanayagam visits the library three times a week. “Having a book in my hand,” he says, “is more than meditation to me.”
Read/listen to the report on NPR about the library in a war-torn land.
So what books should such a library stock? The authorities, wealthy donors, and patrons themselves, all have different ideas. This concept was neatly explored in the short story Renewals by Romesh Gunasekara.
Classics from around the world, agricultural development books from the UK, “micro-finance and all,” poetry books, Dante’s Inferno in Italian itself, what is it to be?
Do read this story if you can. It is a little gem.