With the opening of its Sirigannada Pustaka Malige here on Thursday, the Department of Kannada and Culture realised its long-cherished dream of selling all its publication under one roof.

The outlet is said to be the brainchild of the former Secretary to the department I.M. Vittalamurthy and the former Chairman of the Kannada Book Authority S.G. Siddaramaiah.

The 14,440-sq. ft outlet, adjacent to the Samsa open-air theatre behind Ravindra Kalakshetra, was designed and constructed by the Public Works Department at a cost of Rs. 21 lakh. Although the outlet was inaugurated on Republic Day, the department had to wait for seven months to launch sales because of official and political reasons.

Speaking after launching the sales, Director of Kannada and Culture Manu Baligar said that over 1,000 titles were on sale at a discount of 20 per cent. The books were published by the Department of Kannada and Culture, the eight cultural academies, including the Anuvada and Urdu academies, and the Kannada Book Authority. The outlet would by open to the public between noon and 7 p.m. on all working days except Tuesday, he said.

Mr. Baligar said that CDs and DVDs of classical and light music, folk songs and folk performance arts brought out by the department and the respective academies would also be put on sale in a phased manner. Besides, the Government would launch a comprehensive website on its book publication activities and facilitate online booking shortly, he said.

Outlets in districts

The Chairman of the Kannada Book Authority, Siddalingaiah, thanked the Government for having responded to the pleas of the KBA and book-lovers. The KBA would shortly commission “Sirigannada” book outlets in other districts.