What did Sir Francis Bacon, an English philosopher and statesman, mean when he said: “Reading makes a full man”? It refers to the suggestion that by reading, a person is able to fill the mind with knowledge pertaining to a variety of topics. Well! During the period when Bacon lived, there was no internet, and one had to make a conscious attempt to read. In the modern era we live in today, a bookshop is still a sprout of knowledge, and Sarasavi Bookshop offers a bastion of knowledge to a generation of readers.
The early years of Sarasavi Bookshop
The Sarasavi bookshop first commenced business over 70 years ago in the rural township of Padukka and in 1973, found its permanent home in Nugegoda. In reality, the 1970s were a period of import controls and the bookshop established a good reputation catering to schools booklists and stationary. Certainly, I still can remember visiting this Sarasavi Bookshop in the 1970s and 1980s every year to buy books for the new school term. For instance, a large portion of the old Sarasavi’s customers comprised of parents and school children who came there to get school stationery.
Back then, during the year-end holidays, the bookshop was packed to the brim with customers. Indeed, there was no incentive to leisurely browse books and magazines. In fact, the counters were manned by a few salesmen who attended to the needs of customers. For example, during that era, Sarasavi bookshop gained prominence as those living in bordering towns had to come to Nugegoda to shop for anything. In general, it was natural that when it came to books and stationery they visited Sarasavi Bookshop.
Sarasavi bookshop during the modern era
The 1980s and 1990s and thereafter saw a renaissance of education. Notably, parents saw the immense benefit of education while educating children became their priority. In other words, with the gradual increase in population more and more educated youth were immersed in educational activities. Markedly, these youth and mature readers alike demanded local and imported books to broaden their horizons. As a result, to meet this demand, Sarasavi Bookshop expanded its operations and its bookshop’s network grew in stature and reach. In fact, Sarasavi was awarded the Gurulugomi Award for the Best Bookshop in Colombo and its Suburbs in the year 1997. In essence, today, the network of their bookshops cover major towns in Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, the latest addition to their network is located at the One Gall Face branch at Shangri La Colombo. This branch mainly caters for aspirational upmarket readers, comprising both local and foreign customers.
One striking feature of any Sarsavi Bookshops is neatness. Although not matching international standards their bookshops are well presented by Sri Lankan standards. Accordingly, the lighting, space and overall segmentation of books are well organized and there is a pleasant feeling when one visits any Sarasavi Bookshop. Today, Sarasavi Bookshops present a huge collection of Sri Lankan and foreign publications covering multiple disciplines to meet the diverse literary needs of their readership. For this reason, when one visits their bookshops to buy books or stationery, you will see a diverse array of customers ranging from little children, parents to higher academics.
Sarasavi Publishers
Sarasavi Publishers, the publishing arm of Sarasavi group began operations in the year 2000. During that period, and afterwards, Sinhala and English Sri Lankan writers came to the forefront with many noteworthy works of literature. Incidentally, the publishing unit gave an impetus to these aspiring writers to showcase their talents. At the same time, there was a demand for an ingenious Sri Lankan style of literature. On the whole, the publishing unit produces over 100 titles per year and is much sought after by readers. Over the years, their titles grew in stature and today, one can purchase novels, short stories, translations, fiction and more.
Sarasavi online
The internet boom resulted in readers looking to buy their favourite books online. Obviously, this was the trend globally and Sri Lanka is slowly realizing the benefits of e-commerce. After all, from a global perspective, Amazon is still one of the best-known names in the industry to buy international books. Overall, its website is extremely user-friendly, Amazon ships internationally, and they have an extensive selection of books of all types. Uniquely, this makes it easy to find a particular book in no time. As has been noted, from a Sri Lankan perspective, this is not so, as ordering books from overseas is a tedious process. In brief, the majority of Sinhala titles cannot be found on Amazon.
To meet this gradual increase in demand from online customers, Sarasavi started an online portal called Sarasavi. lk. Here, you can purchase booth local and imported books. As can be seen, it is very user friendly and has attracted customers from both local and Sri Lankans living overseas. As a result, when you order from their online portal your order will be delivered to any address in Sri Lanka or shipped to an overseas address. Thus, their website has been a boom to thousands of Sri Lankans living overseas as they use this to gift books to their near and dear in Sri Lanka.
Sarasavi Warehouse, Nugegoda. Tel. 011 2852519
Sarasavi Warehouse is located towards the Nugegoda railway crossing before the Nugegoda post office. Obviously, it is not a warehouse but a place to buy a treasure trove of books unsold at their main bookshop and branches. Further, it sells second-hand books in very good condition. On the whole, this is a shop that demands careful browsing, but patience will be rewarded. Generally speaking, the main attraction here is the affordable prices you pay for books of value. Although the books are not well organized you can find English and Sinhala books on various topics. By and large, one feature lacking here is a few chairs to sit and read beforehand a purchase is made. However, all said and done, I will give this place a thumbs up as I can find a decent book to my budget at any given time
Sarasavi Bookshop has created a reputation and persona for offering books, magazines and stationery at affordable prices to suit most Sri Lankans. Its network of branches located in strategic towns gives easy access to customers. Additionally, their branch network is a platform for various other publishers in Sri Lanka to offer their books to a diverse set of readers. Uniquely, the Sarasavi name is synonymous with literary awards, and its involvement with Colombo International Book Fair is legendary.