Our tour at King's College began with meeting the team of librarians who were going to divide us up and take us on separate tours. As I sat down to listen to the instructions, something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. One of the books sitting on the table was written in Tamil. This is a very unusual sight for me and I wanted to know more about it; however, I was told I was in the group who were going to tour the campus. My curiosity had to wait.
Our tour of the campus was jam packed with information. We heard about the history of King's College and the Knights Templar, how the King wanted to protect the education system, lawyers were not allowed to practice law within the city of London, and how the clock tower used to carry a water reserve.
King's College is special for a number of reasons. One of which is it has the only 2 zinc ceilings in London. One is in their Reading Room, the other is above the library foyer. I included the pictures below. The building itself is quite beautiful. We saw an original room for manuscripts. The only thing left in the room are the iron shelves and we were told the room weighs roughly 9 tons. Not sure whether that included the 1/2 ton door leading into it!
We were then led into a beautiful room with stain glass windows. Along the wall, there were sculptures from the 16th and 17th centuries. It was amazing to see it accessible for people. Not locked up or stored behind a glass wall. It was out in the open, for all to enjoy.
When we headed back to the first office. I waited patiently as the librarians discussed the books on the tables. Finally (I was chomping at the bit) they approached the book which caught my attention at the beginning of our private tour. It was the first bible to be printed in India and it was in Tamil. I was so excited. As soon as we were able to look at the material on the tables, I jumped out of my seat and headed straight for the Tamil bible. I opened it up and I felt so many emotions. All my life, I had to justify the reason we spoke English at home and why I had a Christian name. Here the book lay before me. How many Tamils held this bible in my hands? What were their stories? How did this bible survive? It reiterated the importance of archival work and its potential impact on future generations. I began to wonder, who will now hold this bible after me? And what will be their stories?
