A meet of its kind to plan kids’ libraries

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam on Thursday inaugurated a three-day 'International Conference On Children Libraries: Building A Book Culture'.

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam on Thursday inaugurated a three-day 'International Conference On Children Libraries: Building A Book Culture'.

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The first of its kind event in the country has been organised by the Association of Writers and Illustrators for Children (AWIC), a voluntary organisation which works for promoting reading habits among children.

“Reading is essential for children as it helps them develop initiative, originality and character,” said Kalam, speaking at the inauguration.

“The modern technology is opening a new arena of reading promotion in libraries, which should be equipped with radio, computers, CDs and DVDs and internet,” he said.

He also emphasised the need for mobile libraries.

Nilima Sinha, president, AWIC, said the idea behind the conference was to create a

platform for debate and

demonstrations on how children’s libraries should be

developed and made more attractive.

“There was a lack of children’s libraries in our country and most existing libraries hardly organised activities to get

children interested in books,” she said. “The conference will throw up a lot of innovative ideas for developing and running

children’s libraries.”.

The event is being held at the India International Centre.