A tale of two libraries in the Nilgiris

While the Nilgiri Library in Ooty holds an annual literary fest, the Coonoor Library remains locked

- Nina Varghese

The retreating monsoon finds the residents of the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu unfurling their umbrellas and shaking out their raincoats, thankful that the rains held till the end of the Ooty Literary Festival (OLF). And every year, those of us from Coonoor who attend it feel a stab of envy that we lost our library, while Ooty has safeguarded theirs.

The seventh edition of the festival, held in October this year and which started off with the presentation of a Lifetime Achievement Award to writer Perumal Murugan, drew a good mix of old residents and new.

The OLF is the only lit fest in the country held in a library. The Nilgiri Library sets a majestic backdrop, with its red ochre building and arched windows. It is part of Ooty's heritage cluster which includes the Adam's Fountain, St Stephen's Church, Breeks School and the Collectorate. The library was designed by British architect Robert Chisholm, who is credited with introducing the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture in British India.

The history of the library is intertwined with that of Ooty itself. The Europeans who made this hill town their home found a need for books and started a subscription drive as early as 1829. The "Neilgherry Library", as it was then called, opened in 1859, and 10 years later, it shifted to its present premises. Today, the library has 668 members and 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 Ecclesiasticall Histories Of The First Six Hundred Years After Christ.