A Tamil lyricist is reinventing one of Chennai’s last surviving libraries and bringing readers back

Barely two years ago, Chennai mourned the loss of its iconic library chain, one that was not only a familiar sight in every locality but the kind childhood memories were made of. As Eloor Library bid a teary farewell, libraries the way we knew them were gone. Except, tucked away in the tree-lined residential neighbourhood of KK Nagar, a private one was busy strategising. Metal shelves brimming with as many as 35,000 titles in English and Tamil, a small reading room with a couch to boot, Gopi Sampath’s Bookworms was always ahead of its time. So, when the real-estate boom had hit Chennai in 2008 and residents were moving to the outskirts, their library found a way to get to them. A van was converted, fitted with bookshelves to house 3,500 books, and would run on a schedule to housing societies and complexes. You could hop on, browse, borrow and return old books. Seshasayee Gopi, 29, who goes by the name Ko Sesha, predictably had a childhood surrounded by books, with a library owner father and a school librarian mother. In fact, Bookworms began as a children’s library back in 2001 with his personal collection of a few hundred books he had outgrown. “Back then, my father noticed that parents would nudge their children to hurry up as they browsed for books every time. He realised he had to introduce books for adults to keep them occupied,” says Sesha. Starting with English titles initially, they soon added Tamil books and periodicals. [caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Ko Sesha. All images courtesy of the author.[/caption] Until 2009, the library saw a steady increase in both new members and returning old ones. The van too had taken off and was popular with individual members, corporate and tech parks. “Weekdays were relegated to offices and tech parks, where the van would be parked and employees from the company that had signed up would come in and borrow books,” he says. On weekends, it would go to the far corners of the city to make books available to loyal members. While for Gopi Sampath, Bookworms was primarily a passion project, it managed to stay afloat and generate revenue until the decline in reading habits began everywhere. “The shutdown of Eloor library was the last stone. We knew we had to reinvent ourselves to stay relevant or we go down the same way,” says Sesha. [caption id=“attachment_6164751” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  The books van would run on a schedule to housing societies and complexes.[/caption] Thus, the one-of-a-kind Stories Library Café was set up in December 2018. Unlike other reading nooks and cafés which have a single bookshelf to choose from, this one is a library first with 35,000 books and counting. Maintaining the traditional format, the library differs only in a more upbeat colour scheme and better lighting. A small table lets you settle down there with a book or move towards the café, which in itself is a book lover’s dream. Encyclopedias are turned into lamps atop a counter that overlooks the street and a wall is covered in open books. “These are essentially damaged books that couldn’t be salvaged. But, it is interesting to see people spot a page they’ve read or a character they identify with,” says Sesha. The walls and ceilings are covered in quotes and the colours resemble those of a wayside Parisian café. The menu is simple with quick bites like french fries and zucchini crisps and more filling ones like pizzas, sandwiches and pastas. Fortunately, there’s a tea menu to go with your book with flavoured varieties. If it’s the filter coffee you are missing, the café will tell you they are experimenting with a micro-roasted batch of Colombian beans that will soon make its way to the menu. Expect a dessert menu soon and have your fill of homemade waffles and pancakes in the meanwhile. [caption id=“attachment_6164761” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Stories Library Café[/caption] The food isn’t extraordinary but is quite enough to keep you here for a reading session. The outdoors doubles up as a performance space and has already played host to storytelling workshops and stand-up comics. “We knew people want more than food when stepping out these days. Food can always be ordered on Swiggy, people are looking for a hangout space that gives them more,” explains Sesha. “We are also looking at book clubs in the future and are open to people using the space for private jam sessions,” he adds admitting he also wants to venture into Tamil literary and film-related events given his own background. The results? The little café and library are buzzing with activity. Bookworms shut down for no longer than two weeks of logistics before it reopened in its new avatar. Memberships have gone up and youngsters are making a trip down to this neighbourhood which has no other ‘hangout’ spaces. “From the average 15-20 sign-ups the library would have in its heyday, we have clocked 50 new ones this month,” Sesha says. Sesha, who helms the space, admits this wasn’t the career he planned for himself. With silver screen dreams early on, he is now a popular Kollywood lyricist with several songs to his credit including Ethanai Kaalam Dhaan from LKG which is still in theatres. He is also finding his feet as a scriptwriter in the industry and attributes his leanings largely to the library and the books he grew up with.