How neighbourhood libraries manage to survive in the city?
There is something about a library that induces instant relaxation. Be it the large District Central Library in Simmakkal or one of the few remaining neighbourhood libraries scattered across the city, the moment one enters one puts all worries on hold.
And yet, despite India's rich library tradition since the late 18th century and despite the city's reputation in the promotion of literature, small private libraries here are disappearing.
Just 10 years ago, says Usha Shenbagaraj, owner of the Dheepam Library on PT Rajan Road, there were at least half a dozen more libraries in various parts of the city.
“But over the course of the last few years, I have seen at least four libraries close down. The reason primarily, I think, is that it is just impossible these days to earn a living and support a family solely out of a library.”
The Dheepam Library is one of maybe four or five private libraries that still exist in the city. It was started 39 years ago, and its then owner managed to make a living and support his family, all with fewer than 100 library members, said Shenbagaraj.
Today, she has close to 600 members on her books, but the money she makes is only a supplement to her husband's income. “There is no way my family could live on the library's income alone,” she said.
Romance novels are piled high at Dheepam, and one corner is reserved for Tamil books and magazines. “Ninety-eight per cent of my customers are women, and ninety-five per cent of them go for romance novels,” said Shenbagaraj.
Wedged between a grocery store and a video rental place in KK Nagar, Arun Books celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2010. 
Owner S.K. Dwarakan says that running this library is more of a service than a business. “I have over 25,000 books, and customers come from as far as Virudhunagar and Theni. But unless you do something else along with the library, to sustain it is very difficult. I think of it as a service to people and since I love books and everything about them, for me it is a pleasure,” he said. Dwarakan delivers books and magazines at the doorstep for a number of customers in the vicinity of his library, and this both endears him to existing customers and gets him new ones.
In metropolitan cities the advent of e-books and of websites where books can be ordered and delivered at home, and the wide range of cheaper pirated books may cause libraries there some palpitations. In Madurai, penetration of technology is still low and people still want to borrow and read books. Still, there are myriad problems with running a library.