Kolkata: An educational organisation here is setting up libraries on footpaths to inculcate reading habits among students and slum children across the city.
iLEAD has started a project to set up a chain of ‘Street Libraries’ where bookworms can collect books without even bothering for a formal registration.
The first such library was inaugurated at Tangra on Monday, the day of Saraswati Puja. The institute plans to soon come up with two more, including one at the Tiljala Shed slum area.
“We will request people to take one book at a time and keep them back in the shelves once they are done. The system would work purely based on trust within the community. At every Street Library there will be a notice board stating book manners and a certain set of do’s and don’ts. This library is for the people and it is for them to follow the rules. I hope people will participate in this initiative in large numbers,” Pradip Chopra, Chairman of iLEAD.
“Street libraries are a fascinating platform to connect, share and exchange ideas, books and network with people from various communities. They are accessible from the street and are an invitation to share the joys of reading with your neighbours,” he added.
“The Street library movement can single handedly initiate the habit of reading from para to para, from one individual to another individual like a wildfire,” Chopra said.
He said that iLEAD would help people, who want to join the Street Library movement, with books and shelves for setting up street libraries in slum areas, private parks and even at private building premises.
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