The online catalogue of the Library of Agrarian Studies (LAS) can now be accessed here.

The Foundation for Agrarian Studies (FAS) is happy to announce the opening of the Library of Agrarian Studies (LAS), a specialised academic resource and reference library of roughly 12,000 publications with a primary focus on agrarian studies, including agricultural economics and rural development. The library collection also includes publications on development studies (including development economics), history, politics and sociology. The library is a repository library for all publications of LeftWord and Tulika publishers.

The original collection, belonging to the founding trustees of the FAS, has benefitted from many generous and substantial contributions. Among these are donations made by Yoshifumi Usami, Jayoti Gupta, N. Ram and Parvathi Menon.

The Usami Collection

At the core of the LAS is a gift to the Foundation of about 5,000 books and other publications by Yoshifumi Usami, retired Professor of Economics at the University of Osaka Prefecture, Japan.

The collection of books covers Indian economy and agriculture, including agronomy, agricultural economics (price policy, agricultural wages, the Green Revolution, and food policy) and demography, and cover the period from the late nineteenth century to about 2010. This part of the collection also includes related official serial publications, such as the Farm Management Studies (a complete set), Rural Labour Enquiry Reports, reports from the series titled Agricultural Wages in India, Agricultural Price Commission Reports, National Sample Survey Reports, and publications of the Census of India. There are also miscellaneous reports on agriculture- and rural development-related topics issued by the Government of India, State Governments, and other official agencies.

Economic history is a major area of Professor Usami’s interest and research, and various Commission Reports, statistical and other official documents of the colonial period, including Famine Commission Reports, and reports of the Royal Irrigation Commission, Provincial Banking Enquiry Committee, Royal Commission on Agriculture, some Land Revenue Settlement Reports, Provincial and District Gazetteers, and publications of the Board of Economic Enquiry, Punjab, are also part of the collection. There is a subsection of books on the history of Punjab with a focus on the Partition years, and on the urban development of Delhi.

The Jayoti Gupta Collection

The Library received a bequest of more than 200 books in the field of sociology, gender studies, and agrarian studies from the family of the late Jayoti Gupta, Reader in Sociology at the Delhi School of Economics.

Other Contributions

The noted Indian journalist N. Ram has donated around 500 books on the social sciences. Parvathi Menon has generously donated her collection of books on Indian history.

Eligibility and Working Hours

Those who are interested in using the library may contact Sandipan Baksi, Director, FAS. Research scholars will be required to obtain a letter from their thesis supervisors to use the library. The FAS offers to help scholars who need accommodation to find nearby places to stay.

The library will be open from 9.30 am to 5 pm from Monday to Friday.

The library is located in Thottekat House, a recently renovated early 20th century building, set in an acre of verdant green orchards and gardens.

The full address of the library:
Library of Agrarian Studies
Thottekat House
Punkunnum
Thrissur 680002