District Central Library, Coimbatore

Origin

Coimbatore is the second largest city of Tamil Nadu after Chennai. It is also known as Kovai and is the administrative capital of Coimbatore District. It is loacted on the banks of Noyyal River surrounded by the Western Ghats. It was part of Kongu Nadu during Sangam period between c. 1st and 4th Centuries CE. In 1804 Coimbatore was established as the capital of the Newly formed Coimbatore District and in 1866 it was accorded municipality status with Robert Stanes as its Chairman.

After the passing of Public Library Act in 1948 by the Government of Tamil Nadu, as per the clause of the act a committee named Local Library Authority, Coimbatore was constituted in Augutst, 1950. Thiru C.M. Rama Chandran Chettiar (Kovai Kizhar) was elected as Chairman of the Committee. This committee started work on establishing District Central Library and other libraries in the District of Coimbatore.

District Central Library, Coimbatore is the central library of Coimbatore District of Tamil Nadu. It is located at Coimbatore city, the District Headquarter. The library was established in 1952. It was opended to public on 1^st June, 1952 at Victoria Town Hall building. In the middle of 1956 it was shifted to Gandhi Memorial Library Buidlding at V.O.C. Park Coimbatore. The library was shifted to its present building, No. 50, Cowly Brown Road, R.S. Puram, Coimbatore on 6^th June, 1987.

Like all other libraries in Tamil Nadu, the library is being administered by Local Library Authority, which is funcitioning under the department of Public Libraries, Government of Tamil Nadu. From the Ist constitution of the library authority in 1950 to untill 1977 District Education Officer used to be in the Chair of Secretary but in 1977 post of District Library Officer was created and now he/she acts as the Secretary of the Local Library Authority. The library expenditures are met by the finances collected from local bodies which collect Library Tax along with Property tax.

The library is the nodal office of 104 branch libraries in the distrit. All libraries in the district are functioning under the control of the District Library Officer, who operates from this library. However the Local Library Authority office is at,

Controlling Authority,
District Library Officer,
Local Library Authority,
1232 Big Bazar Street,
Coimbatore - 641001.
Phone: +91 422 239 4064
Email: dlocbe@gmail.com

The library was selected as the Best District Central Library in South Zone in 2001.

An Civil Service and Competitive Exam Cirle was introduced and is still active at the library since 1994.

Building

The library has a multistoried building having carpet area of nearly 21453 sq.ft. The foundation stone of the building was laid in 1981 and the library started its operations from this newly constructed building on 6^th June, 1987.

Location

The library is located on Cowly Brown Road in R.S. Puram, Coimbatore opposite side of the Forest College main gate. It has some of the most prominent centres of learning, i.e. Avinashilingam Deemed University, Government College of Technology, Agricultural University, Law College and Bharathiyar University etc.

Staff

Collection

The library has a rich collection of 170062+ documents.

Membership

The library has more than 41571 registered members. The library offers membership to Coimbatore residents on the payment of Rs. 50 as one time refundable security at the time of registration. He/she has to pay Rs. 10 (Non-refundable) as annual subscription (financial year, 1^st April to 31^st March) every year to avail the library lending services. A registered member is entitled to borrow a maximum of three books at a time.

For obtaining membership of the library the application should be made in the prescribed form (duly attested/guaranteed) along with the required documents like, one stamp sized photograph and photocopy of any one of the following residential proof,

• Family Ration Card
• Passport
• Driving License
• Voters Identity Card

Also the user should pay the requisite fee of Rs. 50+10 at the time of registering for the first time.

The form can be attested/guaranteed by any one of the following authorities,

• A & B Grade Government Officers
• An Honourary Magistrate/Notary Public
• An Officer of the Head of Department of the Study of the Universities in Coimbarore
• The Principal or a Professor of a Local College/
• Local School Principal or Head Master

For membership of Village/Rural Libraries the fee to be paid varies according to the number of book borrowing privileges member wishes to have, the details are as under,

Automation

The library is offering Xerox facility since as early as 1994. In 2001 a dedicated unit was installed. In 2001 the library started providing internet access to its users. In 2006, barcode tags were used to automate the library circulation services.

Working Hours

The library remains closed on Fridays, IInd Saturday and All Government Holidays. The working hours are as under,

• Library Regular Timings: 8:00am to 8:00pm
• Book Lending: 10:00am to 7:30pm
• IAS Section: 10:00am to 7:00pm

Contact

District Central Library,
37, Old No. 50,
Cowley Brown Road,
R.S. Puram,
Coimbatore (TN)-641002.
INDIA.
+91 422 254 2842
Email:dclcbe@tn.nic.in
Website: http://www.tn.gov.in/kovailibrary/index.htm