In Taleigao, near St. Micheal’s Church, stands a red building or a red house, call it whatever you like. Personally, I like to call it home. I love books; and a place that shelters books is home for me.
I came to Bookworm library for the first time for an interview. I’ve always wanted to work at a library; and I had decided to spend my summer vacations by interning here. On entering the library, I was immediately drawn to the well-arranged bookshelves in the first room. On looking closely, I realised that most of these were picture books for children. I headed upstairs for the meeting, after which they told me I was free to look around. I was probably too excited, because I missed to look at the bookshelves on the top floor. I went back to the picture books section and read a book or two with a lot of interest. As a child, picture books were my favourite.
Two days later, I came back as an intern. I was overwhelmed when I saw the collection of books for adults. I’d thought of Bookworm as a library for children. But they have books for all ages, all people.
There are many things I love about Bookworm. One of them is the systematic arrangement of books. The categories and sub-categories make it so easy for a person to find the book that he/she wants!
The adult section is placed on the top floor. The shelf that you will most likely notice first is that one that holds books of the non-fiction genre. Now, I’m not a big fan of non-fiction. But ‘Madame Gandhi’ caught my eye because of the scarlet cover, and I will read it soon. You will find some of the best biographies and autobiographies there! Opposite that shelf, you will find a number of good, award-winning literary fiction books. Salman Rushdie, Khaled Hosseini and other famous authors’ works are here. I definitely did not miss those. There are books with short stories, anthologies and travel writing, too. My favourite section is the classics section. The literature student in me jumped with joy on seeing so many well-known books. The Penguin classics clad in orange and white are too many. I cannot choose from and I wish to read them all. Most of these are old books and the smell of old paper is -I’m sure many would agree- intoxicating! How could I miss the poetry section? I opened the oldest looking book in there (The Oxford Book of English Verse); and I was addicted to it. I’ve always been fascinated by British poets.
Two tall shelves near the head of the staircase drew my attention immediately. One has books exclusively on the subject of Goa. ‘Afterlife- Ghost Stories from Goa’ was the one I picked up as soon as I saw it; it was quite eerie. While the other shelf has been filled with books on themes like ‘thrills and chills’, ‘tears and cheers’, romance. ‘Gone Girl’ has been the best thriller I’ve read so far! Murakami’s ‘Kafka on the Shore’ is intriguing, and it seems very promising. How I long to read it after hearing of its reviews!
I love the ‘Teenage room’ in the library the most! The array of books will definitely leave you in awe. There’s a whole range of books for the genre of fantasy; under which there are series like Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and more. I could spend days in this room reading and rereading books, stories, fables! Classics by authors like Jane Austen, Charles Dickens are placed peacefully in this room. I was thrilled when Sujata showed me the first edition of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. It’s beautiful.
Bookworm is a library not only for children, but mainly for children. The ambience and the setting, other than the wonderful collection, definitely attracts children. I’ve seen many children visit the library to borrow books. Some of them even sit in the library and read.
There’s a plethora of books for them. Picture books, readers, bilingual books are many. You get to choose from a range of books and pick the one that suits you best. ‘Angelo’, ‘Perfectly Norman’, ‘The Great Kapok Tree’ are my best reads! There is a shelf that holds ‘Outstanding books’. These can’t be borrowed, but you can read those books in the library. Some of the best books fall under this category. I’ve loved every ‘outstanding’ book I’ve read; and if I had to pick one, it’d be ‘The Librarian of Basra’.
The librarians at Bookworm are very warm and friendly. They’ll recommend books if you ask them to, and go out of their way to assist you! I’d say this is one of the best libraries, and I’m proud that I’m not just an intern here, but a member, too.