Readers Forum established in 15 Chennai colleges 

Invite an author or illustrator to your college library. Launch into new ways of reading and imbibing poetry. Review books. Tell a story from the classics.

The Public Libraries Department is getting members of the Local Library Authority (LLA) establish a Readers Forum at colleges to foster the afore-mentioned activities. Since August 2023, 15 colleges in Chennai have been having a Readers Forum.

Recently, Shri Krishnaswamy College for Women in Anna Nagar opened its Readers Forum inviting writer Manushya Puthiran and publisher Olivannan G. to the inaugural event.

Once a college signs up for the programme, they stand to enjoy many benefits.

“Once students get their ID cards as members of the Forum they will have access to public libraries across the city, allowing them to borrow books,” says A. Malathi, librarian at Shri Krishnaswamy College.

Poet and writer Manushya Puthiran, who is the chairman of LLA, says this initiative is aimed to revive the reading habit among college students as well as help them network on areas of interest that would help build their career.

“To give an example, we are planning to have a workshop on how to make short films with the mobile phone, at Anna Centenary Library or District Public Library,” says Manushya Puthiran. He says there are more than 150 public libraries in Chennai and they want to make their services more student-friendly.

The Readers Forum in every college is expected to conduct at least two events every month. LLA would help bring resource person to the campus or the colleges themselves can design their programmes. The neighbourhood libraries would also play host to such events.

Competitions, activities and seminars aimed at improving youngsters’ understanding of various topics are among other measures planned by LLA to engage with the student community.

The structure

Manushya Puthiran says every college has a 10-member organising committee consisting of five students and five faculty.

“We would be driving this reading movement through the librarians who will update us about the happenings and we will support them,” he says, adding that by November, LLA will have added many more city colleges to the list.

S. Elango Chandrakumar, deputy director of Public Libraries, says the concept of Chennai LLA has been revived after more than eight years and this is a model worth replicating in other districts.

Colleges keen on starting a Readers Forum can write to chennailocallibraryauthority@gmail.com

Promoting arts on the campus 

Last month, Carnatic vocalist T.M. Krishna along with his accompanists enthralled an audience at M28, the historical auditorium at Presidency College, with a song list from Sanga Ilakiya Keerthanaikal. Close to 200 students were in the audience for the three-hour programme.

More recently, on October 11, PhD research scholars and post-graduate students from the college brought out a book with a collection of works of Tamil novelist Maayuram Vedhanayagam Pillai on his birth anniversary.

These are just a sample of events hosted by the Presidency College’s Readers Forum, in association with Internal Assessment Cell and alumni associations, to inspire students to take up activities related to art, literature and culture.

For the last two years, the college has been running a monthly programme called Writer-Students Meet.

Writers Perumal Murugan, S. Ramakrishnan, Imayam, Stalin Rajangam, poets Indran, Salma and former chief secretary Irai Anbu are among those who have interacted with students in the past during the monthly meet-ups.

R. Raman, principal, Presidency College, says there is no compulsion for students to attend the programmes and it is scheduled in the after-college hours.

“We do not conduct any event between 8.30 a.m. and 1 p.m. which is the college hours,” says Raman, adding these events witness an attendance of 60-70 students on an average.

For the T.M. Krishna event, we sent out a simple Google form asking those interested to sign up for it, says the principal.

The college looks at the Readers Forum initiated by Local Library Authority as an extension of the activities they have been conducting.

“Readers Forum will give add strength to what we are doing and we are happy to collaborate,” says the principal who is also a writer.

Book review podcast

Ever since the Readers Forum was started at Government Arts College, Nandanam, a podcast series that reviews books is going on.

“We have brought out some podcasts so far, ranging from five to nine minutes,” says R. Kothandaraman, librarian at the college and coordinator for the Readers Forum.