Hyderabad: The state government has prepared a comprehensive plan for the development of the historical State Central Library, Afzalgunj in Hyderabad. Under this project, the digitalization of books will be carried out in addition to the renovation of the library building.
This 131-year-old library of the Nizam era, formerly known as Asafia Library, has a collection of more than 5 lakh books, most of which are rarest of rare.
Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation have jointly prepared a detailed project report. It is reported that HMDA will play a major role in the project which will involve repairing and renovating the building, supplying new furniture, constructing book racks, and beautifying the interiors. The reading room will also be restored spending about 1.8 crore on these works.
Apart from the conservation of the building, a cafe will be developed in the library premises and parking space will be increased.
Due to dilapidated book racks and antique furniture in the library, it was difficult to preserve the books. Heritage experts have emphasized the preservation of this historic building and the books, which have collections in Arabic, Urdu, Persian, Hindi, Telugu, Sanskrit, and other languages. Some collections of books have been transferred to Salar Jung Museum for preservation. It is said that 50,000 books were digitized
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