New Andhra Pradesh library works get delayed

Guntur: The shifting of the government offices from Hyderabad to the capital city of Amaravati  has delayed the construction of a new state library building in Guntur city. This delay  has caused much anxiety to students who have been preparing for various competitive exams for banking and state and central government jobs. They are worried over the state of  dilapidated buildings and the poor maintenance of the library.

As the state government recently announced that it was going to give  notifications for  various posts, including Groups 1, 2 and 3 apart from  the police posts, unemployed youth  from various districts, are rushing to the library.

The old building, which has sections used for stock maintenance and issue of books, and the corridor of the state library building complex, are badly damaged. Some  students even witnessed a portion of the roof of the old building falling in the recent past while there is undergrowth of plants on top of the buildings,  further damaging the old  and new constructions.

Gazette librarian M. Chandrasekharam explained that  they had requested the state  government for the sanction of a new building at an estimated cost of Rs 2 crore, but  this has not yet materialised.

He further added that as the state government was engaged in the transfer of employees and the shifting of  offices from Hyderabad to Amaravati, the proposal regarding the  construction of the new building had been kept  pending.

This is the only big library in the two Telugu states after the Central Library in Hyderabad, which is now with Telangana  state, after the bifurcation. The poor   maintenance of the only available large library is a cause for  worry, explained Mr. N.  Ananda Rao, a student.

There are about 1.6 lakh books in the state library and 30 employees. At least, 300  students visit  the textbook centre everyday besides the regular visitors to the  newspaper section and members who can take books home from the library.