Andhra Pradesh: Nannaya Bharathi turns a treasure trove of donated books 

Some patrons generously donated their entire literary collection to the varsity, says Vice-Chancellor

A tiny two-room portion in the palatial Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Library on the Adikavi Nannaya University campus in East Godavari district now has a distinct identity of its own — it is now home to thousands of books donated by bibliophiles from across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu.

In April, the two-room portion was converted into 'Nannaya Bharathi Library' with a treasure trove of 15,000 books. Nearly 2,000 books are Telugu novels and anthologies of stories on the history and culture of the Godavari region. A majority of the donors are Telugu writers and academicians from the Telugu-speaking States.

Karumanu Ramachandrayya of Rajamahendravaram donated his entire personal collection of 4,000 English books to the library. Half of them have been given to the English Department’s library of the university. Mr. Ramachandrayya was a retired lecturer.

“The books received as donations did not find a suitable place until the Nannaya Bharathi library was established. The idea behind establishing it is to respect the gesture of the donors. The books used to be very important possessions of the donor, and we wanted to ensure that they were accorded a place of respect and easy access to readers,” said AKNU Vice-Chancellor Prof. Mokka Jagannadharao.

“Students, research scholars as well as the public are allowed to access the books. One of the ideas to give access to the public is to encourage them to acquaint themselves with the Godavari culture through these books. We are still receiving books from the donors,” Prof. Jagannadharao told The Hindu.

In 2011, the University’s Telugu Department started collecting the books from the donors and kept them at different places on the campus. “By September, we had nearly 3,000 books received from the donors. These books are yet to be catalogued after which they would be made available for readers,” said Talari Vasu, an Assistant Professor and Nannaya Bharathi Coordinator.

The university has launched digitalization of the books for better access and to preserve them for posterity. The names of the donors have also been displayed at the library as a mark of gratitude.