In between the melodious Arabian sea and the deep tranquil Ashtamudi lake, lies Kollam (known as Quilon) in lethargy. One of the oldest port cities in the Kerala coast, Kollam was once fondly known as Desinganadu, capital city of the historic Venad and Travancore Kingdoms. In the east of this ancient city of civilization, 4 kms. away from the Kollam Railway Station, there is a beautiful landscape known as Ayathil. Here, in the early years of Indian independence, a few social minded and generous enthusiastic young men gathered together to form a library and they christened it Sahithya Vilasini Library. Since then, this library has been playing a leadership role in the all-round progress, especially in the educational and cultural arena, of Ayathil and its suburbs. In the last seven and a half decades of the fruitful existence of this cultural institution, thousands of young men and women have had the opportunity to educationally and culturally enrich themselves. They succeeded in their academic pursuits as well as artistic goals through the wide horizon of knowledge and opportunity opened in front of them by this library. Hundreds of such talents, living and dead, stand as a testimony to the marvellous services rendered by Sahithya Vilasini Library. Needless to say, these individual upliftments resulted in the overall development of the area. Under the auspices of Sahithya Vilasini Library, there are six subsidiary units, namely (i) S.V. Arts Club (ii) S.V. Sports Club (iii) S.V. Vanithavedi (iv) S.V. Yuvatha (v) S.V. Balavedi and (vi) S.V. Vayojanavedi. Each unit works independently and performs their respective activities. It is worth mentioning here that from the very beginning, the Arts Club has been conducting a series of dramas, at least one in an year. These dramas are written and directed by local artists. All the actors and background artists were drawn from the locality. Even the lyrics and music of these plays were written and composed by amateur local artists. The elders of this area still remember with a sense of nostalgia the songs of those plays. The Club has to its credit a number of district and state level awards for the performance of these dramas.

From the very beginning, Sahithya Vilasini Library took special interest in nurturing the young minds in music, dance, drawing, essay writing, elocution etc. which helped them compete successfully in competitions held by local bodies and youth festivals. Regular discussions and debates on contemporary local, national and international events and developments have been an integral activity of the library. Over a period of time, this library gained a unique and enviable place in the minds of all, irrespective of their religion, caste, sex and politics. Today this is an ‘A’ Grade library under the Kerala State Library Council.

The library has basic infrastructural facilities like a very spacious auditorium, a library hall in the ground floor and a conference hall in the first floor. The library has a collection of about 17,000 Malayalam books on various subjects like novels, short stories, studies, biography and auto-biography, children’s literature etc.

Modernisation:

Sahithya Vilasini Library is poised for a giant leap in its Platinum Jubilee year 2024. Drifting from the traditional role of contemporary library, it has been decided to modernize it so as to open up a new vista of activities by converting it into a high-tech Educational-cum-Infotainment Centre. We are sure that the youngsters as well as the elders would whole-heartedly welcome this inevitable deviation from the conventional role of Sahithya Vilasini Library.