The direction of my life, studying on top and beneath trees, on the seashore, and walking here and there for my advanced level (A/L), was changed thanks to the Colombo public library. The times I spent without proper knowledge about libraries, and the time I was not that much interested in reading books, were changed a lot by the lessons taught by the Colombo public library. Once, it became a mother for me, once it became a teacher for me, once it became a friend to me, once it became a psychiatrist who calmed my mind. At another time it became a lodge or rest house for me, but later I felt it was not a lodge or a rest house but as my second home. During hard stormy periods of my life, this library became really my home. Due to my school, workplace and the university being closer to the library, most of my evenings in my youth were forfeited to the library. On some days I get into the library and hide among books and spend a few minutes even without any need. It gave my mind a great relief.  The strange smell wafting from books started to lighten the mind. It had an unexplainable great power to calm down the weary mind. I think it’s better to experience, than describing what it was.

In the early 90s, the bus fare from Pettah to the library was two rupees (2/-).  But one rupee (1/-) for “Town Hall”.  So most of the days I get down from town hall and walk to the library with the rupee (1/-) ticket.  Even though, on late days, I come to the library with that rupee ticket. I came to the library before it opened, so that I can find a suitable place to study.  So in that way the day begins and I stay there until the last announcement to leave the library. I spent the whole day with a rupee’s plan tea and a rupee’s “wade”. I saved those two rupees by walking in the sunsetting dusk from the library to Pettah (Technical Junction), reflecting on the beauty of dusk in Colombo and the knowledge gained from the library. I take this journey very lightly and happily along the sidewalks.

Compared to today, there was no technology, modern facilities and space, but in absolute terms what was in the library at that time was more than enough for me.  Everything including the study hall, lending section, reference section was located in the main building.  But the appearance of the library;  Especially the face monument at the entrance confirms its solemn identity as it was then and today, I still feel the closeness, love and something indescribable that I felt thirty years ago when I entered the library.  The subject ‘Logic and Scientific Method’ that I studied for advanced level made me thirsty to become a philosopher and the Colombo Public Library provided the sustenance needed. From there onwards I became a non-stop writer who loves books.

1999 was another crucial year for me.  Having a full-time job and studying a full-time university degree made me face many problems with my university education. Not like today, back in the past we had to wait for almost three years to enter university after high school, so most learners were employed and I was also one of them. The lecturers of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Colombo, who understood this situation well, did not make problems with the continuous attendance of lectures, and they told to attend as many lectures as possible and to meet the rest of the notes anyway.  Since I was also one of the characters on that stage, I used to take notes from my friends and then study them and appear for the exam.  This was not an easy task for subjects with a heavy weight on mathematics like Microeconomics.

When I appeared for the final exam of the second year, the problem started to affect me too.  Even though I had microeconomics notes with me, it was a very difficult task for me to understand.  I was heartbroken because no one came forward to solve the subjective problems I had.  Leaving the university with a heavy heart, I went home and went to the beach which answered most of my questions. After being alone in my thoughts for almost three hours, according to the decision I finally made, I went to the reference section of the Colombo Public Library the next morning as the first to enter.  In this way, from the moment the library started to the moment it ended, I hid with thematic books for two consecutive days and took about ten minutes of rest a day. I even took that ten-minute break at the request of the head of the reference section.  “Aren’t you going to have some tea? It’s half past three.”  I still remember her words when she came to me.  Two days of determined dedication ended with a B pass in microeconomics and finally an honors degree. I do not hesitate to generously give part of that honor to the Colombo Public Library.

The year 2017 started a new chapter in my library life.  The Colombo Public Library was a crutch for me to rise again, challenging life’s challenges like the Phoenix bird that defeated it when life was about to be drowned alone in the middle of a great storm.  Having visited the library as a young man in the early 90s, I came this time with my two young sons, ten and six years old.  It felt to me like celebrating the joy of a lost traveler returning to his lost home.  I took my two sons everywhere in the library and started explaining to them my past life associated with the library.  As in the past (90s) as then (2017), as today (2025) there has been an increase in the friendly and courteous reception of library staff and no decrease.  After filling out the necessary documents, I and my two sons became members of the book lending section and from that day till now we have maintained a continuous association with the Colombo Public Library.

My eldest son, who joined the library at the age of ten, is now a young man of eighteen. The number of books he took out of the library and read was immeasurable.  Sometimes he used to tell me, “Dad, I have read almost all the books I like. Now I need to find some new ones”.  After reading all the books of “Tin Tin” (Adventures Of TinTin) in the children’s section, he also turned to writing stories in the form of cartoons.  He was more interested in space science as well as in the automotive sector, and from his childhood, he was lucky enough to consult many related books through the Colombo Public Library.  As a result, two books “Story Of Motor Cars” and “Space In Brief” were written and published at a young age.  The inspiration from the library from a young age helped him to pass the IGCSE (London O/L) at the age of twelve and the Advanced Level (Local A/L) in the Commerce section at the age of fourteen.

My youngest son, who joined the library at the age of six, is now a 14 year old Teen Seeker.  Having no understanding of libraries, he learned the basics of libraries from the Colombo Public Library.  What I did was to teach him the value of books and let him hang out with books at will.  Coming to the library, he would choose books by himself, take them home and look at the pictures with me or his brother.  By reading books with fewer words, he started to read books without realizing it. The little boy, who has a strong love and interest for bears, automatically used to bring home and read every book related to bears.  Due to this strong desire, a story book was written and published at the age of ten called “Adventures of Nosy” *Nosy – (the pet name of his teddy bear).  At the age of ten he was able to pass the IGCSE (London O/L) examination and at the age of 12 the Advanced Level (Local A/L) examination in the commerce stream.  I see the most special blessing he received from the Colombo Public Library is the creation of a positive environment for him to focus on creative writing.  As a good playground is necessary for the development of an athlete, a free library is necessary for the development of a creative writer, and the Colombo Public Library is providing this task to my little son to the best of its ability.

As I mentioned earlier, the Colombo Public Library is not just a library, but a friendly and sociable institution. Colombo Public Library treats not only my two children, but every child who comes there, and also young and old, regardless of age, race, religion or gender. In the truest sense of the word, it is a philanthropic institution full of humanity.  From the security guard at the main gate to the librarian, everyone does their duties with a smile on their faces and treats everyone with kindness regardless of rank, is a good guarantee of this humanitarianism. This highly socialized process will be extremely important for the development of young children’s personality and the formation of future friendly human relationships.  From this point of view, not only the book, but what my two sons have gained in life through the Colombo Public Library is immense.  If all these things are summed up in one hand, the turning point of my life is the Colombo Public Library.

Discipline, good behaviour, self-understanding are some of the highly discussed words in a society.  It is the common opinion of all of us that a society with a high level of discipline, or good behaviour creates an ideal environment for human beings to live. In such a society human virtues are high and mutual respect and acceptance are high. For this, the social role of a library is very important. I would like to introduce it as book discipline. The discipline, good behaviour or self-understanding built through the library can be defined as book discipline or good book behaviour and it spans a wide range.  The library is the main institution that can build social discipline or good behaviour.  The mental healing that comes from hanging out among books, the good behaviour that comes from using them, and the friendly and polite reception that comes from library association is great for creating a disciplined personality without realizing it. These personalities unknowingly become wise, friendly and humble characters.

Does just having books make a good library?  Does just being a library constitute a discipline?  Does just reading the book create a disciplined personality?  One can have the above problems.  If such a thing can occur to you too, if so it cannot be dismissed outright.  But book discipline or good book behaviour is a powerful endowment unique to a library that can answer all these problems.  Accordingly, a real library is a combination of many visible and invisible factors that create personality.  Its value is priceless.  In this way, a group of readers with social literacy and calm behaviour will be released into society.  I would like to call this entire process book discipline.  The same happened to me through the Colombo Public Library and my sons too are getting the same. How many personalities may have been born from the care of the Colombo Public Library in a period of a century?  It’s just that big. The eyes of anyone entering the first floor from the main staircase of the library catches the picture and the statement of the great author G. B. Senanayaka “The university I studied at is the Colombo Public Library.” is a great evident testament. 

“Unlike then, today children are less interested in books, they hardly come to libraries.”

“It’s not like before. Now people are away from libraries, because of phones and e-books, reading books has decreased.”

To what extent are these two statements that are heard the most about the society’s books valid for the Colombo Public Library?  According to my observations, I have good reasons to think so.  Whenever we visit the library, there are readers there. There is often a lot of traffic in transferring and retrieving books. Readers who are interested in acquiring new memberships are also often seen. The most valuable thing here is that there is a similar trend in the children’s sector as well and children are almost always accompanied by parents. There is no rest in the library on weekend’s as the library is crowded with readers. Later, when I inquired about this from the library, it was confirmed that my observation was correct.

The attractiveness of the Colombo Public Library, as mentioned earlier, the warm and social reception, not limited to books only, and involvement with various external activities, such as; reading circles, conferences, movies and plays, cultural events as well as monthly creative fairs can be indicated.  And the activities carried out by the children’s section, story telling session, innovation classes, computer science classes and music classes can also be mentioned.  Through these activities, the Colombo Public Library has been able to successfully deal with the problem of readers’ lack of interest in books.

Creating a good and wise society is a major social responsibility of a library. I feel like the closing of a school is the beginning of a prison, and the collapse of a library is the beginning of social decline.  The library has a wider social role that goes beyond the school role. This is because people from all paths come to enjoy a library, and its social openness is immense.  A public library is like a great tree that provides shade to the entire society.  Its area is bigger than all others.  Accordingly, a library distributes knowledge and wisdom equally to all regardless of race, religion, color, caste, high and low, rich and poor, young and old. As G.  B.    Senanayake said, it is a center of wisdom beyond a university.  But in the narrow curriculum schools, the library has become confined to a period of one week enclosed within four walls.  If it were not so, the vast majority of the society would have definitely received the favor of a library, and it would have been a great support for good social progress. And we will be able to enjoy the comfort of a wise society.  It is a matter of great happiness that the well-chosen Colombo Public Library is performing its social role well.