It is March and with temperatures soaring in Mumbai, it isn’t the best season for kids to be in the outdoors
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Nehru Centre Library, Worli
It is March and with temperatures soaring in Mumbai, it isn’t the best season for kids to be in the outdoors. With most being in the midst of exams, what better time than now to head to one of the most well-stocked, free libraries in the city?
Whenever I’ve walked into libraries in other countries, I’ve always felt wistful. Libraries for children ought to be places you feel like entering and wanting to stay in. Public libraries in India, however, are dusty, dull places, hardly geared to enthral a child. So, a few years ago, when a children’s festival organised their storytelling segment at the Nehru Centre Library, I stepped in, and gasped.
Renovated and opened on Children’s Day (and Jawaharlal Nehru’s birthday) of 2015, the library wows you with its sleek, sylvan look. The flooring is of wood; there is a huge tree that instantly catches your eye, as does the fact that the walls are also lined with greenery.
The beautifully landscaped and centrally air-conditioned reading room has provided for six cubicles with computers to get into work unhindered. Or you can choose the long oval table at the end to work. This library now is a place I stop by whenever I can.
It has a magnificent collection of about 30,000 books on every subject possible. And if you are looking for titles on and by Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi, then this is perhaps a place where you are sure to find them.
The idea behind this state-of-the-art space was to merge a digital library with a traditional one. What you have here is an expansive documentation centre, where articles from newspapers, journals and other sources have been curated and indexed.
The archival collection of newspaper cuttings from 1990 onwards covers 150 subjects including environment, sociology, economics, education, astronomy, science and technology, and media, which is collated on a daily basis. And, on request, all these cuttings are available in soft format. On access here is not just what is published in our country, but also 25 periodicals from around the world. A special kids section has been added to the
magazine collection.
Kids who are cyber-savvy - and most kids aged eight and above are - have to only set foot here to be able to get the finest information and data available on most subjects. Otherwise too, all one needs to do is inform the librarian about your choice, and the information will be collated and handed to you. Audiovisual facilities have been made available as well.
The best part is that on most weekends, something special is conjured up. Librarian Arati Desai has ensured that the space is extended to Mumbai-based Indian authors to take on literary
activities.
Walk in here on a weekend and you will be certain to find either a book discussion, a reading, workshops on creative writing and storytelling underway for students, teachers or library professionals.
Safety tip: It’s a safe space to leave your kids unattended, for hours together
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