To inculcate the habit of reading and make it interesting for people of all ages, especially the youth, a state-of-the-art library – New Age Learning Centre (NALC) was established in Arunachal Pradesh’s Miao subdivision in Changlang district recently.

Though the Centre was inaugurated by Minister Kamlung Mossang on May 7, it started functioning officially from May 12.

The Centre is the brainchild of Miao Additional Deputy Commissioner, Sunny K Singh and besides books of diverse genres like and e-books, has those which are helpful for preparing for competitive examinations like Civil Services and National Defence Academy, smart screens and tablets, and free wi-fi. To create a conducive atmosphere, the Centre has comfortable space and air conditioning.

Library+ fun +Smart learning = New Age Learning Centre (NALC)

“Miao promotes fun learning through NALC”

– 1st of its kind
– Books & E-books (genres)
– Smart screens & tablets
– Free Wi-fi
– Futuristic design
– Interactive space@PemaKhanduBJP @ArunachalDIPR @Devansh_IAS pic.twitter.com/vDKy1JJmzV

— Sunny K Singh, IAS (@SunnySinghIAS) May 8, 2022

Talking about Centre Singh said: “It’s like the essence of a library, cafe and smart, futuristic and interactive space interwoven together to achieve NALC in its present shape. The idea of NALC is to provide an impetus to dying reading habits amongst the youths, considering the fact that libraries are getting redundant in the present era of e-books, information overload on the worldwide web.”

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He added that the initiative is intended “to provide an attractive alternative to youths who found traditional libraries as boring, clichéd and outdated in the form of New Age Learning Centre, which intends to incorporate futuristic design based on aspirations of youths to make it relevant for the present as well as future generations. In a nutshell, NALC promotes smart and fun learning experiences for the readers.”

Housed in a two-storey building the Centre has been set up on a 2,000 sq ft area with crowd and government funding at an estimated cost of Rs. 30 lakhs. Membership is free for the first 200 children and those from economically-weaker sections. For others lifetime membership is Rs.50 along with a security deposit of Rs 100.

Books in the library include those for children, fiction, non-fiction, academic, competitive books, biographies, autobiographies and motivational books. “It will be catering to the needs of all sections of society who wanted to read before but could not afford to read. The NALC is a paradise for all the book lovers and it intends to promote the reading culture in the subdivision.”