ALAPPUZHA: The annual reading week started after the death of P. N. Panicker, the father of the state's library movement, on June 19, 1995, begins Monday. The campaign launched in 1945 set up had some 6,000 libraries across towns and villages of Kerala. Inaugurating the 'Reading Month' celebrations of PN Panicker Foundation in Kochi Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he had started such a movement in Gujarat. “With the same spirit, I had started a similar movement by the name of Vanche Gujarat when I was chief minister of Gujarat," he said. "I appeal to people to give a book instead of the bouquet as a greeting. Such a move can make a big difference."
As the libraries face a tough time with the arrival of the digital era globally, the rural libraries are now going digital under the Foundation, which introduced a pilot project in 2016 in 18 of them. "We are now planning to set up 200 more digital libraries. Our target is 300 million digital readers by 2022," N. Balagopal, its vice-Chairman, said. They expect the holistic approach to popularise digital literacy among disadvantaged people. According to the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, 349 libraries have closed down since 2009 under the digital onslaught.
“My worry is that people misunderstand what libraries are and their purpose," said P. M. Mohandas, a library activist here. "Most of the books in print now has a digital version. Libraries are places that people go to for information. More children are borrowing books from libraries which have to be made as centres of cultural exchanges. People, who may not have computers or internet connections depend on libraries for these facilities. Books can make serious readers.”
