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Anna Centenary Library

Chennai Anna Centenary LibraryThe Anna Centenary Library also known as ACL is a well-established library, of the state. 

The library is located at, Kottupuram Chennai and is completely under the control of the Tamil Nadu Government. 

It was built in a total cost of  172 crores or  1,720 million. As a matter of fact, it is one of the largest libraries of Tamil Nadu.

It was established on September 15th 2010 and was constructed under the governance of chief minister M. Karunanidhi and is named after Mr. C. N. Annadurai - the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu. The library was built as a commemoration of Mr. C. N Annadurai.

A five feet bronze statue of C.N. Annadurai is kept at the entrance. This building received the Gold Rating (LEED NC) from IGBC in the year 2010 and thus becoming the first library building in Asia to reach this position. This project has also achieved LEED points of 43, which is the highest amongst any government buildings in Tamil Nadu so far.

Infrastructure of Anna Centenary Library

The library is built on 8 acres of land, and the area covers about 333,140 sq. ft and it has a capacity to accommodate more than 1.2 million books. 

The Anna Centenary Library has also planned to adopt an integrated library management system for automated issue and return of books, user smart cards for security purpose, access controls within the library, Radio Frequency Identification or (RFID) technology and self-check counters for the users.

The library is also designed to accommodate 1,250 persons in a single time. The library also has an auditorium of 50,000 sq. ft. which can accommodate around 1,280 people and an amphitheater on the terrace which can accommodate more than 900 persons and also two conference halls with capacities of 151 and 30 persons each respectively.

Infrastructure of the Anna Centenary Library in ChennaiA dedicated children's section, which is spread over 15,000 sq. ft. has an exact fun-filled theme-based reading area with a variety of multimedia kits and colorful storybooks. 

The library also has a high-tech section for the visually-impaired people, with talking books and Braille books.

Parking space also exists for about 420 cars and 1,030 two-wheelers inside the grounds. A separate power substation with a capacity of 32 kV has also been built on the premises. 

CCTV cameras to watch the exit and entry members have been installed in 493 locations in and around the building. A food court is also available in the building which is capable of serving 180 persons at any given point of time.

Sections of the Anna Library

There are various sections in this library block.

Braille Section:
Braille Section is located at Ground Floor, and special care is taken to facilitate Braille readers in this section. This section has about 1500 printed Braille books, 145 e-books and also 1080 Audio Books

Children’s Section:
Children Section is located in the first floor ' B wing ' and it spreads over 15,000 sq. ft. the section has over 60,000 books which cover all the subject areas. This section also has a very good collection of books ranging from Alphabets, Numerals, and Picture books to Children Encyclopedias.

The Own Book Reading Section of the Anna Library in ChennaiOwn Book Reading Section:
This section is located in the ground floor. It is an advantage to the users who are searching for some spacious, cool and calm reading environment in the hot city. 

Periodicals Section
:
Newspapers and Magazines and Journals are kept in this section. Periodicals section is located in the ‘A’ Wing of first floor. All leading newspapers and magazines in all languages are available in this section for readers. 

At present 37 leading dailies in different languages are being subscribed for the users.

The library is also subscribing over 500 Indian and Foreign Magazines in all categories to serve the user needs. There is an exclusive reading section for women which comprises magazines focused on the various issues of women.

Tamil Books Section:
The second floor of this library is especially dedicated to the Tamil - the Classical Language of the State also known as “Semmozhi Tamil”. This section has almost all the books published in Tamil available in print from literary works to modern times. 

Readers who are fond of reading Tamil books can see the huge collections of Tamil books in and around from all leading publishers. There are over 1,00,000 books or even more in the form of Novels, Short Stories, Drama, Essays, Poems, Humor, letters are available.

English Book Section:
English Books occupy majority of the library space from third floor to seventh floor. This library has over 4.5 lakhs books in all subjects’ areas published by leading publishers across the world.

Anna Centenary Library Membership in Chennai

The library doesn't holds strict rules for becoming a member. The procedure of becoming a member and earning a membership card is simple. Applications are provided in the blocks of the library and it costs Rs.200 to earn the membership card. The card needs to be renewed each year to prolong the membership status.

Soon after the inauguration, In October 2010, the library placed an order involving 35,174 books worth 1.275 million with the Cambridge University Press (CUP), resulting in the biggest sale in CUP's history to an academic library in India and the biggest invoice CUP has ever issued - at 2,794 pages long.

A single order which was worth a million euros was placed with the world's largest publisher of books, Springer, which publishes in the fields of science, technology and medicine. 

Contact Details of the Anna Centenary Library in Chennai

Address:
Gandhi Mandapam Road
Surya Nagar, Kottur
Chennai - 085

Timings
:
The library is open on all days of the week between 9.00 AM - 8.00 PM.
Visiting Hours is limited to 4 hours per day.

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