Both Healthy Body And Mind: After Opening Public Gyms, Tiruchi Plans Free Library To Encourage Reading

After the success of the newly opened roadside gyms opened to keep residents physically fit, the Tiruchi Corporation in a bid to inculcate reading habits among the residents with an emphasis on children has planned to open a free library, reports The Hindu.

The free open library which would be located at Puthur, opposite Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital, would soon help the residents read and share books.

It will be modelled after the Little Free Library, which is a non-profit organisation quite popular in the United States and other countries due to millions of books being exchanged every year.

Little Free Libraries play a crucial role in places where access to books is scarce, says the organisation. The initiative is similar to the ‘Wall of Kindness’, established by the civic body in Puthur some months back.

An estimated Rs 20 lakh is said to be invested by the corporation from its funds for infrastructural purposes. As per the Corporation’s Commissioner N Ravichandran, they will initially provide some books and hope to see the facility grow as people start using it.