Pages Lending Library, Taramani has a website!

As of this morning, Ltd ED by Pages Lending Library has a brand new website. A small website, a simple website, but a very functional website. It went up in the small hours, when things are fresh. Perfect for a fresh start.

Here, in short, is what’s on the website, and what’s behind it.

The public part

The book catalogue. This isn’t complete at the moment. It has every book we have catalogued so far, searchable, with the author and whether it is on the shelf or out with someone (who has it is not public). Around seven hundred books are entered, but Pages Lending Library currently has roughly two and a half thousand (2,500) in the room, with more filling the shelves soon. The rest of the books are being added to the catalogue a shelf at a time.

Book of the Week. Not everyone will be able to get their hands on this book, but we’re featuring one book every week. These are Rommell’s curated choices: one book, chosen by hand, with a note on why it is worth your time. The pick is with Rommell at the front desk, so ask for it. Find out if you’re lucky enough to read it this week.

The blog. Rommell’s reading notes from என் நன்மொழி, on Manto, Pudhumaipithan, Asokamitran, and Kafka, moved over from his old blog and kept whole, in Tamil as well as in English. Rommell’s new notes will appear here first from now on.

The practical things. The website also tells people the fundamental things that a library must convey: what membership costs, how long you can keep a book, when we are open, and how to find us on a street that might be hard to find for some. BTW, did you know that government school students can borrow books for free? Yes! Well, it’s noted prominently, where it belongs rather than being buried for nobody to find.

If you are a member

Welcome, member. You are part of the community that all this is dedicated to, so you get a page of your own now. It is private: the link is yours, and there is no password to forget, because there is no account to make in the traditional sense.

On your page: That page tells you what books you have with you right now, and when each book is due, with anything overdue marked clearly. There is a box to reserve a book that is available on the shelf, so that it is put aside for your next visit instead of going to whoever walks in first. And a record of what you have read with us, which after a year or two is a more interesting document than most people would expect.

If you are a member and have not been sent your link yet, ask at the desk.

Behind the desk

There is a second half of this site that only the librarian sees. It’s custom-built, explicitly for the way that Pages: Limited Edition functions.

Lending and returns are recorded. In a few taps it can tell which books are available, which are out, and which one you’re reserving, and this is why the catalogue can honestly say whether a book is in. It also keeps an eye on the things that are easy to let slip: what is out and how long it has been out, which memberships are about to lapse, and which reservations are still waiting to be handled. It’s simple, it’s made specifically for the way this library operates, and it will change with the specific needs that you as members have.

This part of the website is locked away. Members see only their own page and nothing else; the rest is the librarian’s.

What is still missing

Plenty. The catalogue is a third entered. There is no online payment and no online signup, and there is not going to be. Joining a library that fits in one room should involve walking into the room.

If something here is wrong, a book listed that we do not have, a title spelled badly, or a note that reads oddly, tell us. Call the library, email us, message us on WhatsApp, or find us on Instagram, and it will be fixed on the site the same week.

This library and this website are a community project, so if you see something that needs fixing, speak up, let us know, and help us to fix it.