Who should be a librarian and what should be a library?

The Chief Librarian responsible for Nuwara Eliya and Hatton, Shirani Mangalika shows a creation made using recycled material in a training she recently organised with recycling craft experts

Learning through stamp collecting – a program carried out last week at the Nuwara Eliya Public Library A recycling training held at the Nuwara Eliya Public Library

•  The Nuwara Eliya Chief Librarian of the district’s public library Shirani Mangalika who is also responsible for the Hatton library seems to answer the above question in how she initiates programs of social relevance through the library, linking and integrating the purposes and meaning of knowledge.
•  The latest set of initiatives taken in both Hatton and Nuwara Eliya includes a series of reading history through philately, searching out and establishing a list of crafts-persons who use non biodegradable recycle material, carrying out training programs on making saleable craft related products from plastic, initiating the learning of English through civic responsibility, environment protection and creative communication, and promoting cross culture understanding through reading and cultural events. 
•  The Hatton and Nuwara Eliya libraries aim to be core hubs of integrative and socially responsible learning with practical relevance to self, community and nation. 
•  These libraries have initiated a strategic planning outline for mobilising children and teachers for a series of awareness on chemical compositions of plastic, polythene, batteries, biscuit covers, etc., to prevent children and adults from indiscriminately burning these items in their home gardens and roadways and to prevent these and other non biodegradable products being strewn across the waterways, streams, mountain tops and roadways of the scenic Nuwara Eliya which is being destroyed by the garbage menace.
•  The 2023 national reading month programs conducted by the Nuwara Eliya and Hatton public libraries have earned awards

 By the Harmony page team

The Nuwara Eliya Public Library is currently undergoing a facelift in a bid to make it more tourist-friendly and facilities such as modernised toilets as well as an information centre are being established. That the library is planning a tourism information centre is apparent to any visitor as work towards this is ongoing and the launch of this initiative is to be towards mid this month. 

However, what may not be overtly visible to someone entering the library from another district is that it is being headed by someone who truly cherishes and nurtures her responsibility, often working on all seven days, without being asked to by anyone, to hold events she has taken much effort to introduce. While she weekly carries out the annual projects and events being organised with the affiliation of the relevant ministry and central or regional library bodies, she adds on to her workload by introducing many activities that are directly linked to her own keen sense of community need. 

“I hail from Hatton and I live in Nuwara Eliya to be able to function in my main role as the Chief Librarian here but I am also in charge of the Hatton Library which I have to visit weekly,” says Shirani. 

Crafting through plastic

Last month she organised a training program in Nuwara Eliya and Hatton public library to impart skill and awareness on recycling plastic showing how plastic bags can be cut into strips and knitted. The program was conducted by Sudarma Seneviratne, a Hatton based recycling expert on crafting through plastic, who has dedicated her life to the mission of removing as much plastic as possible from this earth and reshaping it into useful items. The Harmony page in affiliation with the Nuwara Eliya Public Library will soon work with Sudarma Seneviratne to publish a serialised do-it-yourself tutorial on creating artistic bags using knitting needles and plastic and also on creating mini and large Christmas trees as well as decorations using all forms of plastic and polythene.

“Creating Christmas and festival decorations using plastic and all other types of non biodegradable material is something that we wish to focus on in this month. This is also tied to a children and adult environment education based city clean up program that we would like to possibly initiate when the new Municipal Commissioner takes up her duties shortly, if it is so supported,” explains Chief Librarian Shirani Mangalika. Among the projects she is discussing with likeminded people is the creation of postcards with recycled material sourced from the weekly clean ups that the library is interested in organising alongside basic awareness and education programs for teachers and children on the environment and health dangers of burning items such as plastic as is daily done in Nuwara Eliya, both in homes and roads. 

“We have also been focusing on postage stamp based research that children from the age of 8 to 18 could engage in that will help them to focus on areas such as environment protection, geography, wildlife, history and local as well as global general knowledge. Our resource person for this program is Prathab Kirubaran, a professional and academic in marketing who is an ardent philatelist dedicated to developing educational programs for children to research a wide scale of knowledge through stamp collecting,” she said. 

Affiliating with the Nuwara Eliya Public library and with Prathab Kirubaran the Harmony page will publish in the weeks to come a segmented awareness series for both teachers and children on how philately as a hobby can connect a host of general knowledge through just one stamp at a time, based on the philately programs carried out in Hatton and Nuwara Eliya.

Harbinger in eradicating the indiscriminate garbage

“It is the vision of the Nuwara Eliya and Hatton Public libraries to serve humanity, keeping in mind that we are located in one of the most popular tourist cities in the country. Hence, the public library will actively focus on being a central point for foreign and local visitors and a harbinger in eradicating the indiscriminate garbage throwing which threatens tourism. It is only through civic education that we can attempt these changes,” emphasises this librarian. A series of civic leadership through the route of teaching English for children commenced last month at the Nuwara Eliya Public library carried out by journalist Frances Bulathsinghala. “We will be looking at further development of programs such as these that combine several aspects that children and youth need to hone in order to be responsible citizens. We will thereby strategise to link these programs with the creation of children reading groups and encouraging reading in nature based spots such as parks,” she states.

She adds that she has only around five more working years before retirement and that she wishes to make the best of her passion in being a librarian who truly makes a positive difference to the country.