Amid pandemic, librarian delivers over 1000 books at doorstep to children

Pune:  Reading of books has become an old phenomenon for the current generation, however there are people who are trying to revive reading habits among youth. A resident of Nhavare village and librarian at government high school in Shirur tehsil has been delivering books to students and alumni at their doorsteps in order to promote book reading habit.

Pratap Bhoite pointed out that as a librarian, he can contribute much in the ongoing situation of coronavirus. So far, Bhoite has delivered over 1000 books to the people staying in 4 different villages. According to him, as a book lover, he thought of the age-old system of delivering books at the doorstep as an option to achieve the objective of inculcating the habit of reading among the youth.

“For now due to lockdown, children are staying in the four walls, having enough time. All this time is spent on watching TV or mobile phones. However, this time can be utilized for reading books instead of spending time on the television or the screen of laptop and mobile phones. I discussed this with the principal and agreed with me on the concept,” added Bhoite.

First Bhoite delivered academic books to students of his school. The Librarian started delivering them short story books after he pursued them to read these books. Once their interest was developed, they started reading children’s fiction, short stories, novels, and so on. So far, 700 students are taking books from me currently.

According to Bhoite, he met former students of the school and they too showed an interest in his project. Within 15 days he could deliver 500 books to them and at least visited four hamlets daily to exchange books. Most of them finish reading books within the deadline.Bhoite has been working as a librarian at the school since 1996.