I couldn’t believe it. An entire colonial villa packed from floor to ceiling with books. The reference section especially – housed in an outbuilding in the garden – was a dream. Books on art, architecture, anything you could think of. I’m sorry I didn’t organise a heist and cart it all away.
There was a leak in my roof and one of the books I’d borrowed got watermarks all over it. Of course, I got found out and fined – by this charming but very firm woman in charge. She subsequently became one of my closest friends and over the years I have worked mostly with the team in the library.
When I first started using the library, I was a builder. At some point over the years, I became, quite unexpectedly, an author. So I’ve gone from being a user to being used. No, that doesn’t sound quite right, does it? But you know what I mean! I’ve known some of the staff for over 30 years. So even if this sounds like a cliché, it really is a home away from home for me.
There was a leak in my roof and one of the books I’d borrowed got watermarks all over it. Of course, I got found out and fined – by this charming but very firm woman in charge. She subsequently became one of my closest friends and over the years I have worked mostly with the team in the library.
I don’t think the British Council could have done any better than it has! It’s got the strongest footprint of any foreign country’s cultural institute here in Sri Lanka.
My message to everyone reading this is “Please don’t ever kill this library!” Over the last 30 years, it has remained for us in Sri Lanka an oasis of peace and sanity in what has been at times a very mad, bad world.