Hoshiarpur (The Stellar News): The Hoshiarpur Literary Society (THLS) has launched a first of its kind mobile library in the city. The mobile library is part of THLS’s program “padh daa Punjab vadh daa Punjab” which is to promote reading and literary activities in the region. The mobile library which is fabricated on an e-vehicle has a collection of about two hundred and fifty books. The books are three languages, English, Punjabi and Hindi. Books include fiction, biographies, non-fiction, slelf help , religious , philosphy a swell as books for students praeparing for career exams. As per the President of society Sanna K Gupta, the force behind this project, the library will operate for five days in a week.
According to her five parking spots have been earmarked to make the mobile library approachable to a large population. “The electric vehicle was chosen with a purpose to to make the whole experience eco-friendly, said Sanna K Gupta. According to her the project took four months to execute and Punjab Indutries Minister Mr Sundar Shyam Arora was instrumental in in making this project a reality.. Ms Gupta further added that the deputy commiisoner Hoshiarpur, Ms. Apneet Riyait provided the society with all the logistic support and has been actively involved to give the project its wings.
The Hoshiarpur Lit Society is keen to replicate this model in other small cities if adequate logictic and financial help is provided. After experimenting with this project, the sociiety is keen to roll this vehicle to nearby villages once a week and encourage school children to rent books.
“For the time being we have shifted our focus from organising Literary festivals to building these libraries. Instead of bringing authors to the people, we thought it is better to take their books to the people,” said Sanna K Gupta. “The pandemic has taught us new lessons ,” she added. A nominal membership fee of Rs.200 and a proof of Adhaar is required for a person to rent a book from the library. All the information regarding the library is available on the website-www.hoshiarpurlitsociety.com.
