Nool Thettam

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

An Appreciation: Mr. N. Selvarajah: The Creator of an Eelam Tamil central repository.

Mr. N. Selvarajah is well known in Sri Lanka and all over the Tamil Diaspora as a librarian and renowned bibliographer of Sri Lankan Tamil books.

To date he has produced five volumes of ‘Nool Thettam’ – a bibliography of Tamil books by Sri Lankan Tamil writers from home and abroad, which has about five thousand entries and constitute the Eelam Tamil Central Repository of modern literary work.

This massive project which should be the work of a university or state department is being undertaken by a single man with a love for books. He spends his own money to purchase the published books, compiles them in a systematic manner and publishes them at his own expense. This ‘one man project’ is unparalleled in it’s’ scope and undertaking.
He makes certain that he sees each and every book that is being entered in his collection, so that there is no question about the authenticity of his compendium. He also provides a short summary of each and every entry in his collection. These are not criticisms; they are only explanatory notes.

The books are codified using the International Dewey Decimal Classification which is the standard used worldwide. This is easily understood by any user.

In the present climate majority of the scientific and research books in Tamil are written by Sri Lankan Tamil writers living outside of Sri Lanka. For a student pursuing his or her studies in Sri Lanka and involved in research, Selvarajah’s ‘Nool Thettam’ is the only path open to gain access to these specialised works.
‘Nool Thettam’ is an invaluable asset and remains a landmark in Sri Lankan Tamil writing. Selva’s pioneering effort will be remembered forever.

Mr. Selvarajah was born in Aanaikottai, one of the earliest known human settlements in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. He was educated in Jaffna and began his career as a librarian at Ramanathan College, Chunnakam in Sri Lanka. He later served as the chief librarian for the Sarvodhaya Shramadana Movement in the Jaffna District.

During the years 1981-82 he went to Indonesia to serve under the United Nations Development Programme. While there he developed a Model Rural Community Library System in the village Marengmang near the provincial capital Bandung, which was later adopted in the rural areas of that country.

On his return to Sri Lanka I 1983, he became the Chief Librarian at the Evelyn Rutnam Institute affiliated to the Jaffna College. In 1990 he became an advisor to the Department of Hindu Culture under the Ministry of Cultural Affairs in Sri Lanka. In 1991 he was made a consultant to the Jaffna Public Library.

Living in Britain for the past 19 years it was his unwavering love of his profession and his single mindedness which has produced the five volumes of his Bibliographical Compendium. His labour of love continues- this would go on endlessly.

Apart from ‘Nool Thettam’ – the compendium; he is also the author of several books in Tamil and English. A book on Tamil Proverbs, A selected Bibliography of Dr. James T. Rutnam, Several guide books on setting up Rural libraries, A history of Jaffna Library and Rising from the Ashes: The tragic Episode of the Jaffna Library are some of his outstanding works.

Currently he serves as the Director of the Ayothy Library Service in the UK. He is also involved in the Organisation and production of a Bibliography for the Malaysian Writers Association.

His contribution to the Tamil Literary world is well recognised by the Tamil Diaspora. Some years ago (2004) he was given a special commendation by the ‘Tamil Information ’ in Canada; and in 2005, he was awarded the title ‘expert writer’ (Eluththiyal Viththakar)  by the  Sinthanai Vattam  (Thinkers Circle)  in Sri Lanka.

Mr. Selvarajah remains a great friend and advisor on several matters relating to writing and publishing. I am indebted to him in many ways. His service to his fellow men and community continues; there is no end in sight.

I wish him well on all of his endeavours.

Dr. Siva Thiagarajah.
London

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