Iyyanki Venkata Ramanayya

Iyyanki Venkata Ramanayya
Iyyanki Venkata Ramanayya
Born	1890 Konkuduru, East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh
Other names	father of library
Occupation	Editor
Known for	the Architect of the free Public Library Movement in India
Successor	Dr Murali Krishna Iyyanki
Parents	Venkataratnam (father) Mangamamba (mother)

Shri Iyyanki Venkata Ramanayya or Ayyanki Venkata Ramanaiah (Telugu: అయ్యంకి వెంకటరమణయ్య) (24 July 1890 – 1979) is recognised as the "Architect of Public Library Movement in India". He is the first Indian to be awarded the Kaula Gold Medal. Through his career as an influential library leader throughout the entire country, Ramanayya was seen as a respected peer and mentor by S. R. Ranganathan.

Early career

He was born in konkuduru village of Ramachandrapuram taluq in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh to Venkata Ratnam and Mangamamba. He studied in Tailor High School and influenced by Bipin Chandra Pal entered public service.

Shri Iyyanki entered public life in the year 1907 at the age of 19 and was instrumental in establishing the First State Library Association in Indian – Andhra Desa Library Association (1914), Bengal Library Association (1925). He contributed to the foundation of the Madras Library Association (1928), Punjab Library Association (1929) at state level and All India Public Library Association (1919) at the national level.

Between 1934–1948 he toured the coastal districts and organised library tours in large scale by the district secretaries. As a result, hundreds of libraries are opened and many are reopened. He organised training camps for the library secretarires in 1920 and 1934. It is not exaggeration if one can say he toured almost all villages in Andhra Pradesh.

Accomplishments

Shri Ramanayya never worked as a librarian in the technical sense, but will be remembered for his accomplishments and dedication to the field. An active leader in Library Movement, he founded thousands of public libraries throughout India, and South India in particular. P. Ramachandra Rao describes the Andhra Pradesh library movement;

In the general context of the national library movement, the Andhra library movement was conspicuous and significant, unique and described as “swayambhuv” (self-born) by Iyyanki Venkataramanayya. It was a social movement with popular participation, organised with democratic ideals, more for imbibing political consciousness and spreading literacy rather than for mere organisation of reading rooms and systematic libraries.

With unmatched missionary zeal, Shri Iyyanki founded literary journals like Andhra Bharati (1910), the first Telugu illustrated monthly from Machilipatnam, which catered to many generations keeping them informed of Telugu related information. He also founded the "Granthalaya Sarvasvamu" in Telugu in the year 1916 (the first professional journal on Library Science from Vijayawada), as well as the Indian Library Journal in the year 1924 (the first professional journal on Library Science published in English from Vijayawada) at his own cost and boosted the profession.

He helped establishment of Raja Rammohan Library in 1911 in Vijayawada. He started All India Citizens' Library Association in 1919.

Other works

With strenuous efforts and dedication, Shri Iyyanki organised hundreds of meetings and conferences at the national and state levels. The top national and international figures such as Rabindranath Tagore, Sir P.C Roy, and Desabandhu Chittaranjan Das were reception committee chairmen or presidents of different All India Public Library Conferences organised by Shri Iyyanki which took place in different 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. He has been the live-wire of the Public Library Movement in India.

Iyyanki Venkata 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" is constructed in the area – The temple is almost 100 years old as on July 2010. During 1999 Dr Iyyanki Venkata Ratnam son of Iyyanki Venkata Ramanaiah renovated the temple and made all arrangements for daily pujas. Further Sri Iyyanki Venkata Ramana, Sri Iyyanki Venkata Ranga Rao and Dr Iyyanki Venkata Murali Krishna [Grand Sons of Iyyanki Venkata Ramanyya and Sons of Dr Iyyanki Venkata Ratnam] made specific efforts to develop the temple. On 5 July 2010 Dr Iyyanki Venkata Murali Krishna performed the Vigraha Sthapana of Kala Bhairav and Hrungi and Bhrungi the Dwarapalakas of Ramalingeswara Swamy. Further development of the Temple complex being developed as "Shiva Ratna Kshetram"

Legacy and awards

The Indian movement to build libraries in several states and in the rural, less accessible areas, have been all due to his great organising capacity, untiring energy and dedication as a selfless social worker. In addition to the Kaula Gold Medal, he was honoured with the award of "Granthalaya Pitamaha" by the Maharajah of Baroda. The Government of India honoured him with the Padmashri award, giving him a distinguished title which nationally recognised him as a distinguished citizen.

He was secretary Andhra Pradesh Library Association and organised an All India Library Meeting in the year 12 November 1912 in Madras. This meeting lead to the forming of Indian Library Association. Later ILA declared 14 November as National Library Day. Since 1968, 14–20 November has been celebrated as National Library Week all over India and various programs are organised to let the public know about the libraries.