Ludhiana: Alumni authors get dedicated space at SCD Govt College library

A separate section has been dedicated to alumni-authored books at SCD Government College to serve as an inspiration for students and encourage them to take up reading and writing themselves. Around 170 books of different genres penned by former students of the college have found a place of honour at the library.

A separate section has been dedicated to alumni-authored books at SCD Government College to serve as an inspiration for students and encourage them to take up reading and writing themselves. Around 170 books of different genres penned by former students of the college have found a place of honour at the library.

With 20 books lining the book shelves at his alma mater is renowned poet and literary commentator Gurbhajan Gill. “This initiative is one of the first of its kind in the state, and will inspire other educational institutions to follow suit. In this age of social media, it is important to encourage students to read and write as much as possible,” he says. (Manish/HT)

With 20 books lining the book shelves at his alma mater is renowned poet and literary commentator Gurbhajan Gill. “This initiative is one of the first of its kind in the state, and will inspire other educational institutions to follow suit. In this age of social media, it is important to encourage students to read and write as much as possible,” he says.

Other distinguished alums, who have found a place of honour on the college’s book shelves, include retired bureaucrat Paramjit Sahai, who has authored Indian Cultural Diplomacy: Celebrating Pluralism in a Globalised World’ and ‘India-Eurasia: The Way Ahead’; former CBI chief Joginder Singh, who has penned ‘Safalta Ka Jadoo’; Gopal Singh Khalsa, who has written ‘Mera American Safarnama’, and eminent Punjabi poet, Swaranjit Savi, whose oeuvre includes ‘Ashram’ and ‘Tarakheen Yudh’.

Commerce student Anjali Bauddha, who is an aspiring bureaucrat, was all praise for the initiative: “I was intrigued when I first visited this section, and now I frequently pick up books from the section. The books penned by bureaucrats serve as an inspiration for me, as I too want to follow in their footsteps and have a book penned by me in the section in future.” 

The initiative has also re-established former’s students connect with the college, principal Tanvir Likhari says, “It fills my heart with pride when students, who seemingly passed out just yesterday, present us with their newly published books. Incidentally, we just started with three books, now we have over 170 books.” 

The college’s Alumni Association also issues certificates to students for being the most prominent ‘Library Books’ Reader’ each month, which encourages students to read more books. Brij Bhushan Goyal, organising secretary and coordinator of the Alumni Association, said, “The idea behind this section was to motivate students to one day have a book written by them on he library shelves in the alumni section.”