In our fast-paced, multitasking day-to-day lives we often find ourselves adrift in chaos. Within this chaos, taking a pause to find our inner calm is just as important. And what better way to find this calm than in a library nestled in the heart of the city.
Sri Sarvotham Bhavanam housing the century-old Andhra Pradesh Library Association (APLA) has an amazingly tranquil ambience even though the structure is flanked by a prominent corporate college, a busy ice-cream parlour and a bustling family restaurant, near Benz Circle.
The building, constructed in 1949, is a testimony to a century-old movement and the country’s first library association in the country.
The premises, surrounded by concrete jungle, has a well-groomed lush green lawn with the statue of ‘Kalaprapoorna’ Paturi Nagabhushanam standing in the middle of his small world of knowledge he so fondly nurtured all his life.
Besides a collection of over 24,000 books in Telugu and English languages, segregated in different sections and loaded in neat rows of wooden racks, it has an air-conditioned reading room regularly visited by a good number of students who read their lessons in the peaceful environs.
Monthly journal“We also bring out a monthly journal Grandhalaya Sarvasvam which has been digitised. We have digitised from first to the 60 issues of the journal and have further digitisation plans which may take a little more time,” says Raavi Sarada, daughter of the late Mr. Nagabhushanam and secretary of the Association.
Ms. Sarada, after her father, had been serving the library with utmost dedication by spending her time and energy in improving the facilities there.
Favourite spotPointing to a group of students sitting under the shade of a gazebo built behind the main structure, she says some students come in the morning to the library and use this shade to have their lunch.
Centenary celebrationThe centenary celebration of the Library Association, which were launched on April 10, last year in Hyderabad, will conclude on Thursday at its valedictory function marked by a national conference on ‘Role of Library Associations in Promoting Information Literacy in the Knowledge Society’, at Dhanekula Institute of Engineering and Technology, Ganguru, Vijayawada.
