Jaffna library opening postponed indefinitely

[February 14, 2003 - 10.30 GMT] 

The much anticipated re-opening of the Jaffna Public Library has been postponed indefinitely, according to a spokesman for the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF).

“There were many protests against the opening of the library. Student and teacher unions were protesting claiming that the reconstruction was not complete. It is complete. Only the air-conditioning, lift and the canteen have to be attended to. There is an unseen pressure behind the protests,” he said.

The re-opening of the library after two decades was eagerly awaited as it is considered a milestone in the process of ethnic reconciliation.

Restoration work that was begun in 1998 by the Ethnic Affairs and National Integration Ministry, equipped the library not only with books but with all the modern IT facilities as well. The total project cost Rs. 120 million.

The cost was covered with foreign aid as well as with aid from other areas of Sri Lanka said Prof. Gamini Keerawella, former Secretary to the Ministry of Ethnic Affairs and National Integration.

The fire that claimed the library deprived the world of a priceless collection of nearly 97,000 volumes of publications and more than 10,000 of the rarest collections of literature in the world. “This was considered as the best collection in the whole of South East Asia”, a spokesperson from the National Library said.

It was in 1949 - the year after independence – that the first Mayor of Jaffna Sam A. Sabapathi obtained approval from the Municipal Council to construct a specially designed building for a library. It was completed and occupied in 1959.

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Last Updated Date: February 14, 2003  - 10.30 GMT.