Best-seller trail

On September 29,1960,the British Council Library opened its doors to the city and with that a whole new world was created on Fergusson College Road.

On September 29,1960,the British Council Library (BCL) opened its doors to the city and with that a whole new world was created on Fergusson College Road. The smell of crisp pages and the sight of neat shelves piled with books lured people from all parts of the city. Even today,50 years later,the scene is no different,except that the number of both books and members has increased tremendously. And BCL is celebrating this successful journey with an interesting list of programmes and workshops,starting September 23.

The message behind the week-long celebration is that learning should be combined with fun. The workshops are part of learning but they don’t have a serious tone to them. There’s a general quiz that will encourage everyone to shed their inhibitions and participate,while the parenting workshop will address all the doubts that parents have. We also have a talk on interviewing skills by Judith Burke,which will be very interactive. In this way,members and their friends can really go beyond books and enjoy their evenings here, says Sugandhi,assistant librarian.

Burke,who is a soft skills trainer and has been conducting day-long and short evening programmes at BCL over the past year,says,This organisation is the perfect portal to find out about the British culture. I have conducted sessions on presentation skills,cross-cultural sensitisation and so on. My talk on September 28 will focus on interviewing skills and it will tell people how to prepare for interviews,how to get the best out of themselves and even follow up later.

Thus,every evening,between 6 and 8 pm,the Library will come alive with these different programmes. September 25 and 26 will add a zing to the celebrations with a Salsa Demo by Sandip Soparrkar and a play by Flame School of Performing Arts. We’ve wanted to do the Salsa workshop for a long time now. Basically,it’s for couples and even others who want to shake a leg,but usually don’t do so! Sugandhi says. Soparrkar,who remembers visiting BCL in his younger days,adds,The workshop will be very educational. People look at dance only for entertainment and now fitness. Very rarely is dance associated with knowledge and learning. So we really need to bring that out. This workshop will include a demo as well as information about dance. It will be like a book in motion and BCL will be the perfect setting.

With this celebration,BCL wants more youngsters to walk into the library and discover its treasures. It is for this reason that we’re doing workshops and presentations on a regular basis now, Sugandhi says,adding,We even have a reference scheme running through this week wherein an individual who introduces a friend will receive a silver coin.

Anand Balchandra,a working professional,who has been a member of the library since 2004,is gung-ho about the activities lined up for the week. He quips,I joined the Library when I was doing my MBA and I am still a regular. I particularly like the DVD collection. I have gone through almost all of the 4000 DVDs! In the coming week,I will probably attend every workshop and be a part of the celebrations.

On September 29,the ‘Dress Up As Your Favourite Character’ competition will include both kids and adults. The prize distribution ceremony will be as grand as the event itself with actor Atul Kulkarni and Sam Harvey,director,West India,British Council,gracing the occasion.

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