Libraries are becoming a thing of the past. The iconic British Council Library in Bengaluru has closed down, much to the dismay of book lovers in the city. However, it will continue to exist in virtual space.
"We want our focus to be on scale and a high-quality online experience for customers, with digital and mobile at the heart of what we do... Our digital offer will bring the best of UK education, arts and culture to a much larger audience beyond our physical locations. We have invested in increasing and strengthening our digital offer so that our customers can access a vast range of educational and entertainment resources online," said Antonius Raghubansie, Director-Learning Services, British Council India.
The library, a famous landmark on Kasturba Cross Road in the city, had something for everyone. It offered a wide range of books—from the much loved and delightful tales by Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton to biographies, academic books, movie DVDs, and more. On weekends, there were movie screenings and interactions with writers.
The British Council Library in Mumbai, which was a physical library until a few years ago, had a wider collection of books and stuffed animal toys. The Bengaluru outlet seemed to make up for that with friendly and cordial staff right from the security guard.
Bangaloreans are yet to come to terms with the shutting down of the library. “A lot of my fond childhood memories were formed over there,’’ recalls a 17-year-old who used to be a regular in the library. “My love for reading matured over there. My mom would drop me off there while going to work. It was a friendly atmosphere. The librarian would come and recommend books to me,” she says.
Five of the British Council’s eight libraries in India have been transformed into e- libraries. The libraries in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh will now be used for conducting International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and other United Kingdom examinations operated by BC Examinations and English Services India Pvt Ltd.
The revamped digital collection of the library includes thousands of podcasts, recordings of concerts, e-books and audiobooks, besides magazines like The Economist and Vogue and over 6,000 newspapers from over 100 countries. A mobile app version of the digital library, on Android and iOS platforms, is also on the cards. “The mobile app version of the digital library will be launched at the end of June for both Android and iOS platforms, offering a seamless and interactive customer journey which pulls together our content in one place and allows members to build their own library collection,” Raghubansie said.
