199-year-old Tamil dictionary will be available in Kalaignar memorial library

CHENNAI: The Kalaignar Memorial Library to be inaugurated by Chief Minister M K Stalin on July 15 would be a treasure trove which houses rare books as old as a 199-year-old Tamil dictionary.

Information shared by the state government officials unofficially showed that the library would have an exclusive rare book section, where the first edition of the Chaturagarathi (Tamil dictionary) published in 1824 would be available.

The Kalaignar memorial library would earn the distinction of being the second only place to have the 199-year-old Tamil dictionary.

A copy of the book is available in the British Museum in London only. Likewise, the Justice (English) magazine published in 1918 and over 50 magazines published by leaders of the Dravidian movement would feature in the rare book section of the library spread across 2.13 lakh square feet.

The state-of-art facility comprising a basement and ground plus six floors would also house renowned international science journals, modern publications, historic books, medical books and books related to technical education.

The government has procured as many as 3.3 lakh books for the library which would have a lending section, own books reading facility, children’s section, Kalaignar section, Tamil books section, newspapers, seasonal magazines, research journals, English books, books for competitive exams and multimedia centre.

An exclusive area for children would consist of an event area, theatre and an exclusive studio for the visually impaired.

The facility would also have an exclusive digital section where digital versions of rare books, manuscripts, documents and palm leaf manuscripts would be available.