National Library Week in India is celebrated annually from November 14 to November 20. This event, first initiated by the Indian Library Association in 1968, aims to highlight the importance of libraries, promote reading culture, and raise awareness of the resources and services libraries provide to society. It is particularly observed in educational institutions and public libraries across the country to foster a love for books and encourage people to utilize libraries as spaces of learning and community engagement.
Reasons for Celebrating National Library Week:
- Promoting Literacy and Education: Libraries are essential in supporting education and literacy by providing access to books, journals, and digital resources.
- Fostering a Culture of Reading: The week emphasizes reading for pleasure and knowledge, encouraging individuals to explore diverse literary genres and subjects.
- Highlighting Library Resources: Libraries have much to offer beyond books, such as digital archives, online databases, and workshops. This week brings attention to these resources.
- Community Building: Libraries are community hubs where people can gather, exchange ideas, and participate in educational programs.
Iyyanki Venkata Ramanayya was born in Konkuduru village, Ramachandrapuram taluk, in East Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, to Venkata Ratnam and Mangamamba. He studied in Tailor High School.
Influenced by Bipin Chandra Pal, Ramanayya entered public life in 1907 at the age of 19. He was
instrumental in establishing the First State Library Association in Indian – Andhra Pradesh Library Association (1914) and the Bengal Library Association (1925). He contributed to the foundation of the Madras Library Association (1928) and the Punjab Library Association (1929) at state level and the All India Public Library Association (1919) at the national level.
Between 1934–1948, Ramanayya toured the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh and organised large-scale library tours. As a result, hundreds of libraries were opened and many others reopened. He organised training camps for the library secretaries in 1920 and 1934.
Ramanayya never worked as a librarian in the technical sense but he founded thousands of public libraries throughout India, and South India in particular. P. Ramachandra Rao describes the Andhra Pradesh library movement;
Ramanayya founded literary journals such as Andhra Bharati (1910), the first Telugu-language illustrated monthly, which informed people of Telugu related information. He also founded Grandhalaya Sarvaswam in Telugu in 1916, being the first professional journal on Library Science from Vijayawada, as well as the Indian Library Journal in 1924, which was the first professional journal on Library Science published in English from Vijayawada.
He helped establishment of Raja Rammohan Library in 1911 in Vijayawada. He started All India Citizens' Library Association in 1919.
Ramanayya organised hundreds of meetings and conferences at the national and state levels. People such as Rabindranath Tagore, P C Roy, and Chittaranjan Das were reception committee chairmen or presidents of different All India Public Library Conferences organised by him in various parts of India. He was the first secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Library Association along with N. Krishna Rad in 1914, as well as the All India Public Library Association which started in 1919.
Ramanayya donated about 10 acres (40,000 m2) of land in Ayyanki village for development of various facilities. A Shiva temple, known as Ganga Parwatavardhani sameta Sri Ramalingeswara Swamy, exists because of him.
