In Haralahalli village near Mysuru, Karnataka, Anke Gowda has quietly built what may be one of India’s largest private libraries. Over five decades, this former bus conductor and sugar-factory worker has poured his time, savings, and even sold his Mysuru house to collect nearly 20 lakh books.

Pustaka Mane (Book House) is more than a collection—it’s open to anyone: school students, research scholars, civil services aspirants, even Supreme Court judges have visited. The shelves span over 20 Indian and foreign languages, with about 5,000 dictionaries and half a million rare foreign volumes. Some books date back to the early 19th century. 

Gowda lives modestly with his wife Vijayalakshmi and son Sagar inside the library premises. Cleaning, cataloguing, caring for this massive trove is a daily labour of love. Industrialist Sri Hari Khoday helped by constructing the current building on 22 guntas of land to give the collection a perman­ent home.

Still, challenges remain: many books await sorting; digitisation is desired but under-resourced. Despite that, Anke Gowda’s library stands as a sanctuary for knowledge, a gift to all who believe that books can change lives.