Visakhapatnam Public Library: A book lover’s one-stop destination

For all the book-lovers in Vizag, here’s some good news. The newly built second floor at the Visakhapatnam Public Library is now open for visitors. Now, spread over an area of about 24,000 square feet, this library is one of the best places in the city for young career aspirants. This brand-new floor was inaugurated, on Wednesday, by Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) Commissioner, G Srijana IAS. 

With more than 43,000 members, the Visakhapatnam Public Library is a hotspot for all avid readers in the city. The library houses close to 57,000 books from a wide variety of genres – fiction, non-fiction, preparation material for competitive exams, newspapers, and magazines. This library has been declared as a green library as it operates solely on solar power. 

On the occasion of the inauguration of the second floor, the GVMC Commissioner urged the youngsters in the city to utilise the upgraded facilities at the library to reach their career goals. Additionally, this library caters to people of all age groups and is a peaceful place for senior citizens to do their reading. 

Talking about the upgrades at the library, founding member Professor Prasanna Kumar shared that the goal of the library is to encourage children of the city to take up reading and dive into the world of books at a young age. In this regard, the Secretary of the Visakhapatnam Public Library, DS Varma, talked about the library’s plans to introduce a dedicated children’s section. This will be creatively built, with a forest theme, so that children can read books in an engaging environment. 

Here are some of the interesting features of the Visakhapatnam Public Library which attract all the readers of the city:

#1 A new second floor

The hype is mostly about this new floor which has been added to the library. With an area of about 8,000 square feet, this second floor has been in the news for it promises to separate Visakhapatnam Public Library from the other public libraries in the city. This new floor can accommodate up to 300 people in a day. The second floor contains general book sections, reference books and a vast reading space. 

#2 E-learning facilities

Adopting the digital wave of education, the library has added new e-learning facilities. There are 40 fully-functional computers with internet access where people can browse and retrieve any information they need. Going forward, the library is also planning to prepare daily online questionnaires which career aspirants can attempt to test their knowledge. Apart from this, they are also going to establish a book locator kiosk where people can check a book’s availability and also know where it is situated in the library.

#3 Open area

For those who love to do their reading in the lap of nature, this library also contains an open reading area where people can read their books peacefully under the shade of trees. This open area is one of the salient features of the Visakhapatnam Public Library.

#4 Conference hall

Unlike most libraries, Visakhapatnam Public Library also has a dedicated conference hall. This hall is located on the new second floor of the building. There are also two meeting halls in the library. These halls can be utilised to conduct TED talks and also discussions where people can share their knowledge with others. 

Also, keeping in mind the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the library is strictly following Covid-19 norms. It’s mandatory for people to wear a mask inside the library. The library is currently operating at 50 percent capacity, with proper spacing between chairs, to ensure that social distancing is followed by visitors.