The SSA is an institute of research and publishing which disseminates knowledge in printed and other forms. Suriya Bookshop, which functions as a separate unit within the organization, helps achieve this goal.

The bookshop has a political history. It got its name from the Suriya Mal Movement, which was an anti-Popy Day event of the 1930s - a protest against imperialist policies. The original Suriya Bookshop was established in the 1950s and soon became a hub for readers of radical literature. In the year 2000 a branch of the bookshop was started in the SSA.

The Suriya Bookshop is situated in the SSA premises and is open from Monday to Friday from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. Books, journals, SSA pamphlets and other local and foreign publications in the social sciences and humanities are sold. The bookshop also carries publications by well-known companies such as SAGE, Rawat, Asian Education Service in India, Indian Book Trust, and Zed (London).

The Suriya Bookshop specializes in books on political economy, democracy, feminism, gender and human rights, cultural studies, etc. There is also a second-hand book section, which sells rare books.