The Visakhapatnam Public Library has got a new look. The library, set up in 1996 by a few like-minded people, has been renovated to give a good ambience to students who frequent the library on a regular basis.
The renovated library that will be officially re-launched on Saturday has got a new lobby, a two career guidance enclosure (boys and girls separate), a much spacious general section, a children section, a separate reference room, a Gandhian centre and a common reading hall. “All the sections are air-conditioned,” said secretary of the library D.S. Varma.
This apart, the library boasts of two air-conditioned and newly made meeting halls of 180 and 50 seating capacity. The halls are well lit with new sound systems and acoustics.
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“The halls are separated from the reading room sections, as we do not want readers to be disturbed,” said Mr. Varma.
Speaking to The Hindu , president of the library S. Vijay Kumar said, “We want to ensure good ambience for students, especially those who are preparing for various competitive examinations.”
What makes the library unique is new trimmed lawn around the building with seating arrangement. The young minds can sit on the benches spread around the lawn and read in peace under the shade of trees, said Mr. Varma.
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The lawn reading concept was taken up jointly as CSR activity by Essar and The Hindu .
The library has got a collection of over 55,000 books and construction work is on to increase the space by another 8000 sft.
“We are building a third floor with over 8000 sft and the idea is to stock a collection of at least one lakh books,” said Mr. Varma.
The library management has even utilised the underground cellar space to facilitate a reading room. Everyday, the competitive section from each paper is cut and 300 photocopies are circulated free to aspirants.
This apart, the cuttings are filed on a monthly basis to it acts as a ready reference for students preparing for various competitive examinations.
In the last one year about 55 aspirants who used the services of the library could get jobs through various competitive examinations, said Mr. Varma.
Speaking to The Hindu , Manas Dutta, who got into Indian Railways, said, “The library provides adequate material for competitive examinations at a very nominal cost. It is not possible to bear the cost of competitive books.”
The refurbished library will be inaugurated by MP K. Haribabu in the presence of GVMC Commissioner M. Hari Narayanan on Saturday.