Residents of Hajanal village in Bhalki taluk have started jolige granthalaya , a library of donated books.
“Some youth in the village got the idea and collected books by going door to door,” said Chandrakanth Talawade, who anchored the movement. “We are not just going around collecting old books, but also asking residents to give us subscriptions of magazines as donations,” he said.
He said that each of the 300 houses had given away a book or promised to do so, he said. “When we began visiting houses, people thought we came for Ganesh Mandal donations,” says Basavaraj Biradar, a youth from the village.
“But once we told them, they were impressed. Some of them suggested we keep school textbooks too,” he said.
Rajendra Jonnikeri, accounts officer in the zilla panchayat, has donated books of Vachanas by Basaveshwara and other sharanas. Another villager Suryakant Chougale has diverted his Swachh Bharat Abhiyan incentive of Rs. 12,000 to the village library.
Shivanand Aurade, panchayat development officer has encouraged the jolige team and promised to help by seeking government funds for the village library.
Nittur Gram Panchayat members have donated furniture and Shivakumar Deshmukh, Bhalki taluk panchayat president, has promised Rs. 1 lakh, he said. Writers will be invited to speak in the village to create awareness about Kannada literature, Mr Aurade added.
