Inside Ranade Library, a 120-year-old legacy in  Mylapore

Discover the historic Ranade Library in Mylapore, a sanctuary of knowledge and history waiting to be explored by all.

The world is quite literally at your fingertips, a cornucopia of information at your beck and call. But while you are out there keeping up with the hurried world, there is something unparalleled about slowing down and sitting in a dark academia-coded library, immersing yourself in the time-worn pre-Independence books.

At Ranade Library in Mylapore, you are surrounded by hard-cover books laden with history. Their pages are delicate as gossamer. It demands all your attention on a scorching hot day in May. Once you step in, the coolness of the place takes over.

“It is because this research library is about 120 years old, with long, airy windows, thick walls, and a high roof which has been the same since the beginning,” says K.S. Hemanth Kumar, honorary secretary of the South Indian National Association (SINA), which manages the library that has more than 8,000 books. SINA president V. Shanmugasundaram, 98, has been an active part of the library for decades.

And the essence of a library is nothing short of incomplete if it does not host elderly members and other visitors pouring over newspapers. One such member is Saravanan, a leather designer, who was thumbing through the national dailies, having come all the way from Perambur.

“I only discovered Ranade Library a decade ago, but now I am a regular here. I cannot help but feel a pull to come back because so many eminent leaders have walked these floors,” says Mr. Saravanan.

While Mr. Hemanth Kumar points out that not many young people visit the library these days, Ranade Library still sees a fair share of Ph.D. students and those preparing for competitive exams. “The main problem we face is the preservation of the framed portraits of the legendary figures that line the walls — the foundation stone laid by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Sir Subrahmania Aiyar, who opened the library in 1905, and many icons who delivered lectures here. Keeping these portraits in good condition has been easier said than done, despite all attempts,” he says.

Ranade Library hosts Srinivasa Sastri Hall upstairs, and the income from the hall has always sustained the library. However, the income has dwindled owing to fewer programmes after the COVID-19 pandemic. “With less income from the hall and not many hands reaching out to support the library and the lease rent for the building going up, we are finding ourselves in a bind,” Mr. Hemanth Kumar says. The association also manages K.N. Shanmugasundaram Hall at Karpagambal Nagar. The library is home to books like Essays on the Gita by Sri Aurobindo published in 1922, History of the Freedom Movement in India by Tara Chand, A Short History of International Affairs of India, The Historians’ History of the World by Henry Smith Williams, books on dynasty by Pattabhi Sitaramayya, and a wealth of other research-oriented books, alongside Agatha Christie, Sidney Sheldon, and Tom Clancy novels.