Free Road Side Library Spreading Wisdom in Arunachal Pradesh

“A word can change a mind, a sentence can change a life and a book can change the world”. The change from a dumping ground to a place of wisdom is an uncommon phenomenon, which over the months have been made possible by a vision followed by the support of the people mainly the youth.

Book Exchange Centre or in simple words a roadside free library is now the talk of the town in Naharlagun, a town situated close to Itanagar, the capital city of Arunachal Pradesh.

The free library runs in a unique model of ‘Give a Book, Get a Book’. Anyone, interested can pick any book from the library in exchange of donating a book, where few months ago existed an illegal dumping ground.

Located in Sector D, Naharlagun this unique initiative is the brainchild of Prakash Ghimiray, an enlightened social worker and entrepreneur based in Naharlagun. Prakash wanted to shift the illegal dumping place and replace that with something good for the society, so he come upon with this idea of having a book centre, his friends helped him develop the centre followed by the local youths, who now maintain the centre.

Speaking to News Sense, Prakash Ghimiray said, “I am very happy that, I am successful in making people aware of healthy living habits, by developing the centre. Now not a single waste is dropped in the area, earlier marked as a dumping ground, though not legally.”

Since its start in January 2021, any enlightened people have come forward and donated books, now the library has around 900 books and the local youths and students are happy that they are able to read a number of books on variety of subject.

Prakash now wants to expand this unique initiative in other parts of the city and across the state. Such library can’t just inculcate the reading habits among the younger generation but also help them spend less time on screen.