KOZHIKODE: For people of Panathuthazham near Kottooli, here, the bus waiting shed is not solely meant to board the bus but also to read and get enlightened while waiting for a bus. Swapna Nagari Residents Association of Kottooli has turned their bus waiting shed to a library in memory of Dr. CP Damodara Kurup of Kottooli who was an educationist in Malabar who possessed a doctoral degree in Sociology. The library has prominent books of both Malayalam and English Literature, periodicals and leading newspapers. A children’s section will also be opened in June.
“We came up with this venture aiming to foster the reading habits of people of our region,” says M. Renjith, president, Swapna Nagari Residents Association. “The library is open for all from six in the morning till evening and we are planning to make it 24 hours after the installation of CCTV cameras,” he added. At the initial stage 400 books were brought, spending Rs 15,000 and periodicals and dailies were donated by interested members of the association as yearly subscription. “We are following a policy of ‘you may take, you may return, and you may add’ where people can take books home after entering their names in the register and can donate a book while returning the book taken,” told Mr. Renjith.
“Though the habit of reading is dying gradually in this digital era, yet the entire people of Kottooli irrespective of their age benefit from this initiative,” said Mr. Rajan a native. “Further the bus waiting sheds these days are meeting hubs where discussions heat up thereby adding color to the venture,” he added.
