Saturday, July 13, 2002

Easy does it!

Just log on, sign up, browse through the collection at easylib.com,
reserve your book and it will be delivered at your house or
place of work. PAMELA ANTIC on Bangalore’s
internet-enabled circulating library

That fortnightly trip to the local library to get a fresh supply of reading material is a much awaited outing for book-lovers caught up in the whirl of day-to-day living. Lack of parking space, traffic jams, navigating on bad roads in wet weather and similar urban ills can turn joy into drudgery. Die-hard book worms will brave it all for a book or two but the meek of heart (plain lazy, in other words) may succumb to second thoughts and give the library a miss.

Cheer up meek ones, easylib.com is now at your service. Just log on, sign up, browse through the collection, reserve your book and it will delivered at your home or place of work. At what price? An affordable one, avers Vanishree K Mahesh, the proprietor of Bangalore’s internet-enabled circulating library.

Vanishree, a software engineer who spent seven years working in the US, found the public libraries in India far too woeful compared to their counterparts abroad. “There are hardly any private libraries in the US because the public libraries are so good. That’s when I decided to do something about setting up a good library that is physical and accessible online. I worked for about eight months on the software.”

In June 2001, easylib.com went operational with 2000 books hand-picked by Vanishree, who is an avid reader herself. The Easy Library (the physical part of the venture) is located in Koramangala.

Today with more than 5,000 books, besides magazines and comics, and 500 members, Vanishree is looking at making this unique concept more interactive. The website carries brief reviews of new arrivals and books by popular writers to help readers chose their books. “Some members want a readers’ review section on the website. I am working on it,” adds Vanishree.

What kind of readers will borrow books they have not held in their hands, or read the blurb on the back cover or flipped through the pages before deciding to borrow a particular book?

All kinds, Vanishree says. “Initially all the members were software professionals with easy access to the internet. Now housewives and children are some of my most active members.”

The online facility has helped Vanishree keep track of changes in the reading preferences of the world at large. “At one time fiction was the most coveted reading material, but things have changed,” she says. “Management and self-help books move much faster these days.”

She has also noticed a rather disturbing trend. “Most of the members fall into the 20-plus or below-12 category. Teenagers do not seem to be reading anything at all,” she states regretfully. “They are probably pre-occupied with exams and getting through school or college with the appropriate grades.”

Log on to www.easylib.com for all the details about online membership and borrowing terms and conditions.

For those residing in the vicinity Easy Library is located at 34, 1st Floor, Opposite 15th Main, 80 Feet Road, 4th Block, Koramangala, Bangalore. Phone: 5501499.