Self Help Library in Arunachal Pradesh’s Nirjuli Aims to Infuse Reading Habit Among People

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posted on 4 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Functional round the clock, one can pull out a book ranging from Relativity, The Alchemist, Malgudi Days to Darwin’s Origin of Science piled up in beautiful rows.

Merely seven days since its opening the “Self Help Library” at Arunachal Pardesh’s Nirjuli is already an attraction in the neighbourhood. The library, first of its kind, is simply a rack loaded with books and a couple of wooden benches for the readers by the road.

“I was bit apprehensive on the concept and success of the Self Help Library. However it is always better to give it a shot then to waste time thinking about it. If the books are stolen, I have more in stock. My only objective is to change the habit of reading in my state where it’s dismally low” says Ngurang Meena, a graduate in economics from Bangalore.

Meena along with her friend Diwang Hosai conceptualized the idea of this wayside library where anyone can access it at any time. Functional round the clock all days of the week, one can pull out a book ranging from Relativity, The Alchemist, Malgudi Days to Darwin’s Origin of Science piled up in beautiful rows.

“Arunachal Pradesh has more liquor shops then bookstores. Youth here lack the habit of reading. When you read books you learn new words and your vocabulary improves. Warren Buffett says that 88% successful people of the world are avid readers. Reading is the brain food and we are what our environment is,” Meena says.

Nirjuli, a town in the Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh is 19 km from the capital Itanagar. The distance of an hour sometimes becomes deterrent for the readers to move to the capital to buy books. The Self Help Library is expected to bridge this gap. Inspired by the mini roadside library of Aizawl in Mizoram, Meena started the Self Help Library to promote the habit of reading.

“The response so far has been overwhelming. Young boys and girls frequent the library. People have volunteered to donate books,” says Diwang Hosai who has been running a learning institute in Nirjuli since 2014.

In the age of smart phones and e-reading, Meena wants to infuse a culture of reading. So she began with her hometown. “I wish such libraries to be opened in every ward and councils of the state” says Ngurang Meena.