One
of India's four national depository libraries, the Connemara
Public Library is expected to receive every book published in
India!.
Established 104 years ago, for the nourishment of the intellect,
it is a repository of centuries-old publications, wherein lie some
of the most respected works and collections in the country.
Presiding
over the exquisite woodcarvings, stained-glass panes and elegantly
painted roof at the Old Building- which is not open to the public
- is Roy Choudhry's bust of Mahatma Gandhi.
Modernization and scientific preservation are yet to find form at
this great institution, although the time-tested method of sealing
the pages with chiffon cloth is still effectively used in maintaining
old literature.
The new building, which was added to the Library in 1973, has a
vast collection of books, a much sought after text-book section,
a periodicals hall, a reference room, a video room, an entire floor
for books from the Indian languages, a Braille Library and an IAS
study centre. The last one was introduced recently and has
gained in popularity, but the Indian Languages section is relatively
poorly patronized.
Over six lakh books are available in the library. The Connemara
is a place where gems can be found at every corner, but only by
the discerning eye. Nowhere else can the public find free
access to a 10-volume Encyclopaedia of Astronomy, Greek and
Latin works, Wellesley's Despatches, A History of Oratory
in Parliament 1213-1913 and many more tomes.
The library, according to old timers, helped shape the thought
of many who later became leaders in public life, including at least
two former Chief Ministers,
M Bakthavatsalam and C N Annadurai.
History
The
Treasures at Connemara
The Library's beginnings go back to 1861, when hundreds
of books were found surplus in the libraries of Haileybury
College (where Indian Civilians were trained in
England). These books were sent to the Madras
Government, which in turn handed them over to the Madras
Museum. Conceived on the lines of the British
Museum Library, it was part of the Madras Museum
till 1890, when the need for 'a free public library'
prompted the then Governor of Madras, Lord Connemara,
to lay the foundation.
The library was as part of a cultural complex that grew
in the grounds of what was once called 'The Pantheon'.
The entire complex now boasts buildings that reflect
architectural unity, even while demonstrating the various
stages of Indo-Saracenic development, from Gothic-Byzantine
to Rajput Mughal and Southern Hindu Deccani.
An 1801 edition of Plutarch's 'Lives'
A German copy of 'Antony and Cleopatra'.
The Hebrew and Chaldean Lexicon to the
Old Testament.
The 1608 edition of 'The Bible'.
A 12-volume 'Hortus Indicus Malabaricus' compiled
between 1678 and 1703.
The 1881 Census of India.
Memoirs of Zahir-ud-din Babar(1826
Beschi's "Grammer of the High Dialect of the
Tamil Language"(1882).
3:09:32 PM 
One
of India's four national depository libraries, the Connemara
Public Library is expected to receive every book published in
India!.
Presiding
over the exquisite woodcarvings, stained-glass panes and elegantly
painted roof at the Old Building- which is not open to the public
- is Roy Choudhry's bust of Mahatma Gandhi.
Modernization and scientific preservation are yet to find form at
this great institution, although the time-tested method of sealing
the pages with chiffon cloth is still effectively used in maintaining
old literature. 
