Restored library in Sri Lanka signals hope for Tamil minority
| Jaffna, Sri Lanka
鈥� A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.
Decades of civil strife have left their mark on Jaffna, the heartland of Sri Lanka鈥檚 Tamil minority. Bombed-out buildings are a reminder of the fierce battles waged over the historic city.
The most potent symbol of the struggle, and the uneasy peace since fighting ended last May, is Jaffna鈥檚 public library, which was torched in 1981 by an anti-Tamil mob. Nearly 100,000 books and manuscripts, including irreplaceable palm-leaf Tamil texts, went up in smoke. It was an act of cultural vandalism that fed the Tamil resistance movement.
Eventually the library was rebuilt by Sri Lanka鈥檚 government and reopened in 2003. It has plenty of new books in Tamil and English on its wooden shelves. But restoring the spirit of the library presents a far greater challenge, says the chief librarian, S. Thanabaalasinham.
Peace has brought some relief: Military checkpoints that blocked access roads to the library have been lifted, making it easy to walk or ride there. An influx of Sinhalese tourists from the rest of Sri Lanka means more visitors are entering its airy lobby. But inquisitive visitors aren鈥檛 what the library needs, says Mr. Thanabaalasinham. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have enough readers. There鈥檚 not many here,鈥� he sighs.
Back in its heyday, the library catered to a steady stream of students from Jaffna鈥檚 prized schools and colleges. The city was a center of learning and its library was its gem.
In recent years, as few as 150 people a day visit. Thanabaalasinham wishes it were far more, not for his own job security, but for the community鈥檚 sense of pride and ownership.
Some of Jaffna鈥檚 residents, who scattered during the war, have come back. But a depressed economy and lingering political tensions mean that most return to their comfortable lives in Britain or India, or farther south in Sri Lanka鈥檚 capital, Colombo.
On a brief tour, Thanabaalasinham points to a prewar black-and-white aerial photo of Jaffna. In the center, stands the original library, opened in 1934 during British rule. 鈥淚t was the best library in Southeast Asia,鈥� he says.
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