Suriya’s Library is situated in our main office and is open to the public daily from 8.30 am to 4.30 pm, except Thursdays, Sundays and Public Holidays.  It is primarily a Reference Library.

We have a comprehensive collection of books, publications, journals, newspapers, newsletters, photo archive and audio-visual materials in both the Tamil and English languages.

Our staff has produced short documentary films for advocacy purposes and we have an ongoing commitment to document women’s activism in the Batticaloa District through photographs, audio-visual materials, interviews and the collection of oral narratives.

More than 2,500 Tamil and English books are currently available in our Library covering a wide range of issues on gender and feminist theory….

• Women and Development
• Women and Human Rights
• Women and the Law
• Women in South Asia
• Violence Against Women
• Women and Globalisation
• Dalit Women’s Movement
• Women in the Cinema
• Women and the Environment
• Women and Health
• Women’s Literature
• Women and War/Peace
• Migrant Women Workers
• Children’s Books
• Tamil and English Dictionaries
• Local and Foreign Journals on: Society, Feminism and Literature

 We have increased our stock of reference materials on gender and feminist theory in recent years.  While the public accesses our Library and Resource Centre, our Suriya staff also utilises the materials for research, policy advocacy, campaigns and reports.  We collect articles from newspapers related to women and children under a broad range of issues as well as those where Suriya has been featured in the media.

Penn Journal

The feminist journal “Penn (Woman) Journal” has been published by Suriya since 1996. Currently, we publish 2 issues annually dealing with a variety of women’s rights issues, providing voice and space for women writers to express their views. Penn Magazine has been recognised as an important Tamil language journal and has been regularly referred to in the mainstream media television programs regarding women’s rights.  Several women editors have emerged with a feminist approach through our work with the Women Writers’ Group.

Suriya publishes 4 newsletters annually. Our newsletters have been used widely by other organizations and individuals for their planning, campaigns and research.

The following resource materials published by Suriya are available…

• Penn Journal (Tamil)
• Newsletter(Tamil)

Poetry compilations

• Let the Poems Speak(Tamil, Sinhala and English)

Research

• Penkalin Nilam : A study about women’s land rights in the post-tsunami resettlement process in Batticaloa – (Tamil Sinhala and English 2010)
• Women Responding to Disasters: Challenges and Experiences from South Asia (English, Sinhala and Tamil 2007)
• History of the Women’s Coalition for Disaster Management (English)
• “Joining the Dots” – Monitoring Report on Socio -Economic Rights of Women in Displacement/Resettlement (in collaboration with WMC/APWW – English)

Policy documents

• Memorandum to the President on women land and housing rights in the post tsunami rebuilding process May 2005
• Policy Brief “My Work! My Time! My Value? Women’s economic work in the informal and care economy” – (Tamil and English)

Translations

•  “Treating Cancer with Bandaid? The Theoretical Underpinnings of Women in Development” in Reversed Realities: Gender Hierarchies in Development Thought by Naila Kabeer 2005
• What Men Can Do? (English, translation in Tamil by Suriya)

Video materials

• Carrying Hands (a short documentary film by Suriya staff on women’s work in the informal and care economy – Tamil with English subtitles)
• My Time!, My Work!, My Value? (a short documentary film by Suriya staff on women’s work in the informal and care economy –  Tamil with English subtitles)
• Women migrant workers’ rights (a short documentary film by Suriya Women’s Development Centre – Tamil and English 2013)

Minmini Seithihal (Firefly News) was pilot tested in 2010 as a new SMS alternative news source for women and by women in Batticaloa and went public in 2011. It provides information about public services relevant to women, covers local crises such as flood disasters and local conflicts and reports on services for gender based violence. Suriya provides a small office space and editorial support to Minmini News.