The Boat Libraries were operated under the auspices of the

Andhra Pradesh Library Association The Andhra Pradesh Library Association was established on 10 April 1914. It is the oldest state library association in India. The association is headquartered at Vijayawada. The association emerged with a noble mission of spreading literacy, kno ...

Vijayawada Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises N ...

. They are

mobile libraries A bookmobile or mobile library is a vehicle designed for use as a library. They have been known by many names throughout history, including traveling library, library wagon, book wagon, book truck, library-on-wheels, and book auto service. Bookm ...

or bookmobiles as per the functionality, but boats were used as a conveyance for transporting books to the boat travellers/users.

Initiation

Paturi Nagabhushanam Paturi Nagabhushanam (20 August 1907 – 24 July 1987) was described as the doyen of the Andhra Library Movement from Andhra Pradesh, India...Andhra Pradesh Library Association. The Doyen of the Andhra Library Movement, Kalaprapurna PATURI NAGABH ...

initiated boat libraries to inculcate reading interest, books, and libraries among the public. He started the Boat Library service in 1935 in addition to the other regular activities of the Andhra Pradesh Library Movement and conducted this service for about seven years for the Padapalem "Sevasrama Vani Mandir". In those days, all people of the Guntur district villages in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to t ...

were relying on '

Boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on i ...

s' to travel and transport goods. Villagers were idling their boat travel time in chit-chatting. With the introduction of boat library services, people were availing the facility reading books, magazines, and learning about them.

Opening ceremony

The first boat library service launched on 1935 October 25 between the "Pedavadlapudi - Kollur" on the Krishna Bank canal with the patronage of the "Aryabala Society (Samajam)" and the "Sevashrama Vani Mandir". The opening ceremony was organised by

at a grand scale at "Sevashrama Vani Mandir" in the presence of villagers, village heads, Mandal presidents and service members of "Seva Ashram". The event was formally inaugurated by 'Saranu Ramaswamy Chowdhary', the then President of the Guntur Mandala Library on 1935 October 25. The inauguration was ceremoniously organised on 28 October by the "Aryabala community" at their premises, from where the boat library boxes were picked up in big procession. The ceremony was attended by village dignitaries, senior citizens, and people from neighbouring villages. After conducting a meeting at the canal premises and lectures of dignitaries, book containers (boxes) were arranged on the boat. On this occasion "Vasireddi Annapurnamma of Chinapalem" has gifted a box for keeping books on the boat.Narasimha Sarma, Sannidhaanam (2014). Paturi Nagabhushanam: Jeevita Charitra. Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Grandhalaya Sangham. pp.30-37.

Services

The boat library was run on the Krishna Bank Canal from "Pedavadlapudi to Kollur", pausing at docks on the way facilitating readers with books. As the boat library services became popular among the public,

opened a second boat library in another twenty days, on 1935 November 17 to run between the villages of "Pedavadlapudi - Pidaparru". These libraries included literary journals such as " Bharathi", "

Krishna Patrika Krishna Patrika is a Telugu-language newspaper founded by Indian freedom fighter Konda Venkatappayya. History Krishna patrika was started in machileepatnam in 1902 Krishna Patrika started publishing on 2 February 1902 by founders Konda Venka ...

", "

Grandhalaya Sarvaswam ''Grandhalaya Sarvaswam'' is a Telugu periodical related to the library science and Library and information science. The Andhra Pradesh Library Association in India has been publishing this periodical since the year 1915 for the development of the ...

", "Arogya Patrika", "Prakruti" and books. Some publishers, magazines and other contributors were donating books to these libraries. The services were temporarily suspended during the summer since there was less water in these canals. By the beginning of the second year boat library services, some more boat libraries were opened elsewhere. "Sarvajani Vidyapradayani Library" also started boat libraries for boat passengers in Sangam Jagaralamudi,

Tenali Tenali is a city in Guntur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the headquarters of Tenali mandal and Tenali revenue division. The city is renowned for art, culture, drama and hence, it is called ''Andhra P ...

Taluk.Raju,, A.A.N., (1988).History of Library Movement in Andhra Pradesh (1900-1956).Delhi: Ajantha Publications. p.250

Recognition

The services of this boat library have garnered the attention of public representatives,

celebrities Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

philanthropists Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material g ...

and library personalities. Newspapers such as " The Hindu" and "

Andhra Patrika Andhra Patrika was the weekly newspaper of the nationalist movement in the Telugu speaking region founded by Kasinadhuni Nageswara Rao in 1908. It later transformed into a daily newspaper before it closed down in 1991. It helped to shape both mod ...

" have published and propagated these services. S.R.Ranganathan, the Secretary of

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...

Library Association, who read the news in " The Hindu" daily, found out the details of the Boat Libraries and published them in their annual report. The Adult Education Society of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

also collected the details of boat libraries.

External links

He kept library movement afloat

Andhra Pradesh Library Association

References