There are many reasons to visit the David Sassoon Library — albeit reading happens to be the primary one. Tourists saunter in to this landmark in Kala Ghoda to appreciate its architecture. History serves as another strong pull. Some drop in just to relax in the garden; others check out its very comfortable longed-armed reclining chairs.

In the coming months, more feet will march into the corridors at this Venetian Gothic-styled structure. The wood-draped space at the entrance is going to metamorphose into a place for showcasing art. Proposed cafeteria in the garden could be an added attraction.

Still, it’s the renovated reading room-with its walls covered with bookcases, it’s doubled capacity to accommodate readers at 120 seats, better lighting and modern facilities-which will see most of its nearly 5,000 members spending several languid hours in the company of a tome. They are spoilt for choice with a treasure of 40,000 books in English, Marathi, Gujarati and Hindi. This includes nearly 500 rare books.

“For this phase of renovations, we focused on the interiors with the aim to make long hours that our members spend here comfortable,” says Vivek Ajgaonkar, the library’s president emeritus. The city’s oldest existing library and reading room took a step in that direction when it shut down for renovation in January. It reopened recently with a rearranged reading room and repaired toilets.

“However, only 70 per cent of our renovation work is over. The wood polishing, arrangement of books and other works are still on,” says Ajgaonkar. The first major restoration was carried out in 1996, on the occasion of the library’s 150th anniversary. In 2004, another round of restoration looked into external repair works.

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