Hyderabad :

BM Birla Science Centre throws open its library for the general public on Friday.

Built on the historic Naubat Pahad next to the BM Birla Science Centre, the library has books borrowed from the personal collection of Nirmala Birla, wife of GP Birla. The library, titled GP Birla Library, boasts of as many as 10,000 books ranging from art, archaeology, architecture to lesser known concepts such as iconography, numismatics, museology etc.

“The uniqueness of the library is that it caters to the interests of readers of all age groups from students to research scholars and retired scholars,’’ BG Sidharth, director, BM Birla Science Centre, Hyderabad, said. ‘’Some of the books present here are so rare that they will be beneficial to civil aspirants. These books are no longer available in the market,’’ Sidharth added.

Owing to the rarity of certain books, the management has decided to make it in an in house library, where the reading is restricted only on the premises of the library and the members are not allowed to borrow the books home.

‘’We cannot afford to lend the books to people because they are no longer available and once we lose them, they are gone forever,’’ he expressed.

The library is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is open six days a week. The membership is `500 on monthly basis, `2,000 on half- yearly basis and `3,000 on annual basis.

Physics and Astronomy Meet: A physics and astronomy Meet is being organised by BM Birla Science Centre on February 4. Papers on various topics such as astronomy, gravitation and cosmology, high energy physics etc will be presented at the symposium.

The keynote address will be delivered by Prof Larisa Laperashvili, leading researcher of theoretical department of the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics and National Research Centre Kurchatov Institute, Moscow. For further details contact these numbers 23235081/ 9391516839 or write to birlasc@gmail.com

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / January 31st, 2015