The century-old library Sri Suryaraya Vidyananda Grandhalayam in the small town of Pithapuram has stood as a classic example to many other libraries in the State on how to overcome the perennial problem of paucity of funds.

Registered with the State government under the Cooperative Act, this independent library has a collection of 20,646 titles including Telugu and English literature from ancient to the modern period and study material for various competitive examinations including the ones being conducted by the Public Service Commissions and nationalised banks.

Established in 1915 on a private premise, the library had been moved to its own building in 1947, all thanks to the generous contributions made by the Pithapuram Rajah, who donated land, funds and books.

However, the library faced a tough challenge in 2001, when the building collapsed due to a cyclone and there were no funds even to run the daily show.

A native of the town Badam Madhava Rao, who had launched Abhyudaya Foundation to promote language and culture at that time, had come forward to construct a new building for the library and spent Rs. 6 lakh to construct library building and a shopping complex.

“The shopping complex is the major source of revenue to the library now. We are receiving rents to the tune of Rs. 14,000 per month from all the seven shops built in the complex, from which we are paying salaries to the staff and paying subscriptions to the newspapers and magazines,” Mr. Madhava Rao has told The Hindu .

Renowned poet Avamtsa Somasundar built a reading room and former Rajya Sabha member Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad built an auditorium on the premises. Similarly, philanthropists from the town had come forward to build a meeting hall in the first floor of the library building in memory of late Chelikani Bhavana Rao, the man behind the development of the library.

“Libraries are the major sources of information to know about our history and culture. In one word, they are like temples,” says Mr. Madhava Rao. Over 200 book lovers and students appearing for competitive examinations visit the library everyday. “We don’t have a weekly holiday. When the librarian avails his off or leave, one of the members takes care of the maintenance part,” says Kondepudi Sankara Rao, secretary of the library. Those who are into the research of language and literature too make visits to the library for the valuable reference books and palm scripts, he says.

Sri Suryaraya Vidyananda Grandhalayam at Pithapuram has a collection of over 20,646 books including those on Telugu and English literature from ancient to the modern period