Late expat’s family donates 2,000 books to Abu Dhabi library
Donation will help students develop their reading and attract more members
Abu Dhabi: Kerala Social Centre’s (KSC) library in Abu Dhabi inherited a vast collection of books from an American resident who recently passed away, this week.
Jack Wells, a professor at the Armed Forces College in Abu Dhabi, died of cancer on July 31.
Instead of selling or disposing of his collection of 2,000 books, his family donated them all to the KSC, because they couldn’t transport them all back to the US.
The library’s book tally now stands at 12,000 titles thanks to the donation. Their collection of English titles also totals 3,500 after this act of kindness.
“This is expressly useful for children and adults who love English books,” librarian Sreevalsan K.K. told Gulf News.
“It also makes it possible for readers of other Indian states, and even other nationalities to become members of the library.
“Many students are now newly enrolled in the library and the library wing arranges many programmes for the improvement of reading habits among children, so this donation will really help them.
“We are most grateful to Mr Wells and his family and we assure them that these books will be well received among members,” added Sreevalsan, who said the library had 1,000 members, 700 of whom are active and regularly visit the facility.
“We plan to thank Mr Wells with a memorial plaque and picture in his honour in a section of the library to mark his life and contribution to our library,” he said.
Sreevalsan also thanked Wells’ colleagues and friends who helped bring all the books to the library and said he now faces a giant task of putting all the books into a computerised system.
Lifetime membership to the library cost just Dh150, Dh50 of which is a refundable deposit.