THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Call it a novel effort to revive the habit of reading books. A city-based art and cutural society has opened the city’s first open library at ‘Manaveeyam Veedhi’. Named ‘Aksharaveedhi,’ the project is part of making the cultural street of the state capital a public space where people can come together, read books, and express themselves.
‘Aksharaveedhi’ is a platform for city readers to read books and be part of healthy debates, according to Team Nizhalattam, which has come up with the idea. Nizhalattam inaugurated its venture on Saturday by publishing the book ‘Nettiyil Murivulla Kallu’ by V S Bindhu.
Books will be on display on all Sundays at Manaveeyam Veedhi, and will be lent to the public to read and return within two weeks for no fee. Besides fiction and non-fiction books, newspapers and magazines will also be available on all days.
“Our aim is to nurture the reading habits of the people; ‘Aksharaveedhi’ is a free reading space without barriers,” says Ratheesh Rohini, artistic director, Aksharaveedhi. The team also has plans to use their platform to introduce unsung writers from different fields of society and give assistance to new writers for publishing their works under the banner of ‘Aksharaveedhi.’
The team has already collected 500 books from various publications and members of the group. The first book was donated by poet Kureepuzha Sreekumar. Mythri Publications contributed 100 books.
At the inaugural function, Sreeranjini, resident of Poojappura who had donated part of her liver for a nine-month old baby recently, released ‘Netiyil Murivulla Kallu,’ a collection of poems. Playback singers Jassie Gift and Rajalekshmi, ward councillor Binu I P were present and they contributed books for the initiative.
Team Nizhalattam plans to conduct weekly screening of classic movies and maintain a CD library at the street in the long run. ‘Lets exchange books, read together, conduct debates and expand friendship;’ This is the motto of ‘Aksharaveedhi.’