Donors offer more than 6,500 books for ‘common man’s library’ in Mysuru

The books were gathered through an online campaign launched soon after Syed Ishaq’s collection of books was destroyed in an accidental fire in 2021

The common man’s library at Rajiv Nagar in Mysuru started by daily wager Syed Ishaq received a fresh consignment of 6,500 books that were gathered through an online campaign launched soon after his collection of books was destroyed in an accidental fire last year.

The campaign, started by Professor of Political Science in University of Mysore Prof Muzaffar Assadi, received an overwhelming response with donors from different parts of India and abroad sending books for the library.

A total of 6,535 books were collected during the campaign. They were symbolically handed over to Mr. Ishaq at a felicitation function organised in his honour in the Department of Studies in Political Science and Public Administration in Manasagangothri on April 5. The entire collection of more than 6,500 books will be sent in a van to the library in Rajiv Nagar on April 6.

Prof. Assadi said a large number of people from places as far as U.S., U.K., Canada, Dubai and Kuwait, besides from all parts of India, including Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Surat, Noida, Amritsar, Chandigarh and Kashmir, responded to his call for donation of books.

While many donors had couriered the books, donors from Mysuru personally handed over the books to him. A number of donors handed over books directly to Mr. Ishaq during the felicitation function.

The library, which now functions from a make-shift shelter on the same plot of land where it was destroyed in a fire in April 2021, already has about 4,400 books, including about 2,100 donated by the Karnataka State Book Publishers’ Association and 750 donated by Nava Karnataka Book House.

Though the land allotted by MUDA for constructing a full-fledged library building is spread across 5,000 sqft, Mr. Ishaq has put up a temporary structure on about 400 sqft as the Department of Libraries and Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) is yet to take up construction work.