CHENNAI: At the State level Conference of Micros and Small scale Industries (STICON) 2019 held in Raja Muthiah Mandram, Madurai, on Sunday, one stall was brimming with people. The Guinness World Record for the most number of people signing up for library cards within a span of 12 hours was being attempted by Readabit, a library located in Gomathipuram. With 2,210 entries received between 9 am and 9 pm, the feat was successfully achieved and will soon be officially recognised by Guinness World Records.
TS Govarthanan, MD of the library said, “A few months back when I was interacting with a college student, he told me that he has never read books outside his school and college curriculum, and that he didn’t find the necessity to do so. I was taken aback and later realised that most students have lost the habit of reading books. Even though the primary idea behind initiating Readabit in 2018 was to motivate more people to read, I thought something extra had to be done to gain attention of the public. This record attempt is one such move; it aims to raise awareness about reading and spread a word about Readabit.”
The previous record was held by a group in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, with 1,922 people signing up for cards in 12 hours.
Readabit is not just a library; it also runs an online subscription-based book rental service across India. “Readabit.in offers books that can be rented by readers from anywhere in India. By selecting one book to be delivered, they will have to pay 10 per cent of the book’s cost along with delivery charges. By paying `220 for a single delivery, you can have access to 10 books that will have to be returned within a month. By paying `600, you can have access to delivery of unlimited books that have to be returned in a month,” he said.
Three High Court advocates from Madurai and seven professors from Sourashtra College, American College and Vivekananda College were part of the jury.