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As a teenage student in the 1960s I was amazed by the breadth and depth of the Trivandrum Public Library's holdings. The main lending room was good enough, but upstairs at the back was a large room crammed with works from the 18th to 20th centuries. British influence was obvious from the shelf devoted to English Public Schools, and the many histories of the Christian Churches, and probably donations from the USSR would account for the complete works of Stalin, but the highlight for me was the long runs of encyclopaedic works (in French as well as in English) covering history and geography, many published before the revolution, and all available to be borrowed. At that time British public libraries had already thrown out most of their material from previous centuries, and nowadays you would not find much over thirty years old even in the reference sections. My college library kept such works locked in glass cases for use under supervision. That wonderful resource appeared to be little frequented. I hope it is still available. NRPanikker (talk) 12:30, 5 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]
