“She never asked for toys; her books were her toys. She read about 1,500 books in five or six years,” says a proud Sateesh Kumar Jagadeesan, a private healthcare employee, of his 11-year-old daughter Akarshana.
On Saturday, Akarshana, a class 6 student of Hyderabad Public School here, just opened her second library as part of her mission to set up at least five free walk-in libraries. The first one was at the MNJ Cancer Hospital, Lakdi-ka-pul, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The second one, surprisingly, was decided at Sanathnagar police station.
“It was her idea. On December 23, we were in that area to buy a Christmas star. The place is usually busy and she thought people passing by would be interested in picking up a book. We soon walked into the police station and talked to the inspector, and within a week she wrote to Cyberabad police commissioner Stephen Raveendra for approval,” Mr. Sateesh Kumar explained.
The collection of 829 books in the reception area in Sanathnagar police station include fiction, non-fiction, general knowledge and some 149 books in Telugu language.
For Akarshana, who says the next stop in her library mission is the juvenile home for girls, the love of reading and helping people gives her satisfaction. Of about 4,800 books collected from several donors in the past two years, she still has some 2,800 books for library purpose.
The sixth-grader, for her initiative and social enthusiasm, has received appreciation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao, and several officers in the government.
“I aspire to become an astrochemist,” she says.
