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GPO library wells up with donated books
THE GENERAL Post Office (GPO) has managed to collect for its library about 1,000 books in just five days without investing a single penny. The GPO has requested the general public to donate books for its library, which will be open to all. Contributions have poured in since Monday.
THE GENERAL Post Office (GPO) has managed to collect for its library about 1,000 books in just five days without investing a single penny. The GPO has requested the general public to donate books for its library, which will be open to all. Contributions have poured in since Monday.
The books, including magazines, that have been contributed so far are on diverse subjects ranging from religion to fiction, spiritual, competitive course study, cuisine and even on social and welfare issues. Library in-charge Brij Kishore Shukla said, “Earlier, the library had just about 200 books but sometime back the recreation committee met and decided that it was necessary to add some books to the library without spending much. This was how we got the idea to get people to donate old books. The donation camp began on Monday and by Friday we were able to collect 100 books on varied topics.”
Some of the books that the GPO has been able to collect are very old and rare ones printed way back in the pre-Independence era. There are books on Vedic mathematics, Vedanta, poetry, yoga and old Hindi fiction. Some books on Indian cooking have fabulous recipes of exotic Indian ingredients that Lucknowites may not even be aware of anymore or don’t use that frequently. A few books in the collection cost just about 3-4 paise while some cost Rs 700-800.
“When my wife and I learnt that the GPO had organised a book donation camp we instantly collected the books we didn’t need and brought all of them here.
This way at least they will be read again and again and people would learn something from it,” said Raj Kamal, a retired government official.
The library will be open to the general public though no books will be issued out.
Citizens can only read the books at the library. Staff of the Postal Department, however, will be allowed to borrow books and use the library in their free time.
