Mayor Grant Smith with Tishan Sampath Dissanayake (left) and Prathibha Abeysinghe, plus their daughters Sajani and Ranudi. Photo / Supplied
Mayor Grant Smith with Tishan Sampath Dissanayake (left) and Prathibha Abeysinghe, plus their daughters Sajani and Ranudi. Photo / Supplied
The daughter and granddaughters of prolific Sri Lankan author Dr WA Abeysinghe have presented a selection of his titles to Palmerston North City Library.
Daughter Prathibha Abeysinghe is studying international development at Massey University. Her daughters are also students, Ranudi Dissanayake is at Palmerston North Girls' High School and SajaniDissanayake at Intermediate Normal School.
Among the 76 books donated are six Sinhala language guides Abeysinghe has designed for children who are studying in English at international schools in Sri Lanka. His son-in-law, Tishan Sampath Dissanayake, says the books will be helpful for children of Sri Lankan migrants who have missed learning their mother tongue.
Dissanayake is the president of the Sinang Sri Lanka Foundation of New Zealand.
There are also children's stories in Sinhala, Tamil and English, including Madol Doova, a coming-of-age story written by Sri Lankan writer Martin Wickramasinghe and first published in 1947. Jataka stories written in English that illustrate Buddhist thought are among the donation.
Dissanayake said the library's current collection of Sinhala and Tamil books are for adults, with only one for children.
The addition of books about Sri Lankan culture in English would be helpful for people who want to learn about their culture but might not be able to read Sinhala, he said.
Mayor Grant Smith said he appreciated what Dissanayake and his family do for the Sri Lanka community in the city.