TN CM lays foundation stone for Rs 120 crore library

Chennai, Aug 16 (UNI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today laid the foundation stone for a Rs 120 crore state-of-the-art Central Library, to be built on the lines of National Library in Singapore.

The modern library to be built in an area of eight acres of land behind Anna University, would have eight floors with a total plinth area of 3.33 lakh sq ft.

The library would have facilities like a conference hall, depository and preservation units to preserve rare books, and digital library.

Addressing the function, Mr Karunanidhi expressed hope that the library would be a great asset to the people of Tamil Nadu and country at large.

The library would benefit thousands of readers and youths, he said adding though the State had a strong library network, with a total of 3924 libraries, including 12 mobile libraries, the functioning of the library system still needed to be toned up.

Mr Karunanidhi hinted that the Government would double the number of books of creative Tamil authors, purchased by public libraries from the present 1000 to 2000 books.

Minister for School Education Thangam Thennarasu said the Government would soon call for tenders and commence the construction work, after finalising the tenders in the first week of October.

He hoped that the project would be completed by April 2010.

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