Facelift on, Lang library parts with pieces of the past http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=99646 Hiral Dave Rajkot, September 15: Besides avid readers, the Lang Library is nowadays drawing antique lovers! The 140-year-old library, which has a vast collection of over one lakh books, many of them rare, has put on sale old clay floor tiles used when the building was built. About 1,000 antique tiles, used in the main room of the historic library, are on sale with the structure undergoing renovation. Librarian Bipin Mehta says, "The tiles have been carefully removed. Of all the tiles, only 1,000 perfect pieces have been selected for sale." Each tile has the manufacturing company's name and year engraved on it. Within four days of placing an advertisement, the Lang Trust which runs the library, has been flooded with enquiries from as far as US and UK besides parts of the State. While some want to add the tiles to their antique collection, many plan to make decorative pieces of them. An official of the Parswanath Co-operative Bank says, "We want some pieces to decorate the bank's garden. Their antique value would add to the beauty." But buyers will have to wait for a month. "We have given prospective buyers a month's time and will fix the rates only after looking at the response," says Mehta. The library has been named after a British general, W Lang who served in Saurashtra from 1856 to 1858. Library officials say Lang started a small library called 'Victoria' for women in a room of the Kothi Compound building. Victoria, with books from Lang's personal collection, soon became popular among women who were not allowed to go to school then. The library was later shifted to Jubilee Baug and thrown open to all. Many books still bear the stamp of Victoria library. The main reading room has been closed since May for renovation. White marble has replaced the old tiles, the wooden ceiling and staircase have received a fresh coat of paint and more lights have been installed in the reading hall. A special study room for university students has been built on the first floor. The monthly fees, however, remains Rs 5, says Mehta. The library owns rare books dating back to the 1800s like the Chambers Encyclopaedia (1888), Exploring and Adventure in Equatorial Africa (1861) besides the oldest Gujarati dictionary. The library is all set computerise its operations. Two computers will be installed to provide readers with information on availability of books and new arrivals, says Mehta. Mehta says plans are also afoot to post the books on internet. "To begin with, English and Gujarati books which are over 100 years old have been selected for the project. Soon, readers will have access to scanned versions of these books on the internet," he says. =============== sent by ========= Dr.P.Vyasamoorthy, Ph: +91(40)23480053