Differently abled persons residing within a radius of two kilometres of the District Central Library near Singarathope on the West Boulevard Road can now have books from the library delivered at their doorsteps.
The District Central Library plans to implement the novel initiative with the support of the library’s Readers’ Circle for the benefit of differently abled persons who are not able to visit the library personally.
Differently abled persons who wish to avail the service can send in their request specifying their names, full address, and telephone numbers to the District Library Officer, District Central Library Office at West Boulevard Road by surface mail or email to dcltry@tn.nic.in or SMS to 7402603631.
Once the request was received, the library staff will visit the homes of the different abled persons to formally enrol them as members of the library, District Library Officer A.P.Sivakumar told The Hindu .
Once they become members, the differently abled persons will be eligible to have books of their choice from the library delivered at their doorstep once a week. The books, to be delivered by the library staff with the support of the Readers’ Circle, have to be returned within 15 days.
Apart from an annual subscription of Rs.10, the members will be required to pay a deposit of Rs.20 for borrowing one book, Rs.40 for two books, and Rs.50 for three books.
Based on the response to the service to be launched shortly, the initiative will be extended to differently abled persons living more than two km away from the library, Mr.Sivakumar said. He also disclosed that efforts were underway to make the newly built library building more differently abled-friendly.
Amenities such as a differently abled-friendly toilet and ramp were available. Wheelchairs and other amenities are planned to be provided soon.
A separate section for differently abled with specialised infrastructure, especially for the visually and hearing impaired, is also being planned.
