A magnificent library coming up in Madurai

It will be a boon to children, students, job aspirants and litterateurs

A magnificent library is coming up in the heart of the city. Basement plus seven floors including three elevated floors covered with translucent glass, escalators, free Wi-Fi, a cafeteria, fully air-conditioned system, collection of 2.57 lakh books, a conference hall, surveillance cameras, a roof garden for reading books in natural light, a dedicated section in the ground floor for the convenience of the physically challenged and facility to park 100 cars and 200 two-wheelers will make it stand apart and unique of its kind. 

Chief Minister M. K. Stalin declared on June 3, 2021 that a library would be constructed in Madurai following the footsteps of his father M. Karunanidhi who had established Anna Centenary Library in Chennai. This Muthamizh Arignar Kalaignar Memorial Library in Madurai too is expected to be a big boon to all readers including those preparing for entrance or competitive examinations, researchers and litterateurs in the southern districts.

Public Works Department authorities narrowed down a site of 2.79 acres after considering over half a dozen places to construct this library. However, the location finally chosen – the century-old residential quarters of PWD/ Water Resources Organisation engineers on New Natham Road - triggered a controversy since an association of farmers believed it to be the place where Colonel John Pennycuick, the British engineer who constructed the Mullaiperiyar dam, had resided. Officials proved that the old building was indeed constructed between 1912 and 1915, a year after the demise of the Colonel in 1911.