There is no gift more valuable than books as they help in increasing one’s knowledge and widening the horizon. Not everyone can buy books and thus public libraries play a vital role by providing them to people and this is what a young Indian Administrative Officer, Rahul Kumar, has done by starting Abhiyan Kitab Daan, a campaign to donate books to establish libraries.

The initiative by Kumar, the District Magistrate of Purnea, Bihar, has borne fruits and today this district boasts of libraries in 230 panchayats and seven local urban bodies! The journey to this achievement has not been easy or quick.

Collage of different libraries and its related activites in different areas of Purnea

Purnea was among the least literate districts in Bihar in the past two censuses of 2001 and 2011 and the District Administration was seized of this matter. Determined to reverse this, a drive called Abhiyan Kitab Daan was launched on January 25, 2020 by Kumar through which people at large and spread across the country, were invited to donate books, to help the authorities set up public libraries.

Within a year, the first library was started on January 25, 2021 at Parora village in Krityanand Nagar Block. At that time Kumar had informed, that they had received over 60,000 books, despite the Covid-19 waves.

Today these libraries boast of more than 1.30 lakh books on varied subjects — literature, history, geography and competitive examinations.

Rahul Kumar

Sharing his thoughts Kumar said: “People from all ages are getting benefit. They are literally a boon for the poor, who cannot afford to buy books from open markets.”

Egged by the success of this scheme, it has been decided by the District Administration to spend Rs.2.25 crore on infrastructure for these libraries, which will include tables, chairs, bookshelves, etc.

Members of library managing committees being trained

To help students and readers to know about these libraries and the books, a web portal too will be designed. Talking about this Kumar said: “Soon there will be an exclusive web portal, which will provide all information related to the libraries as well as books.”

Modernisation of these libraries is underway with one computer provided to 15 libraries based on their performance. The members of managing committees of the libraries are being trained by professionals.

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