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Online libraries a hit with city's bookworms
The habit of thumbing through cover to cover and sifting through book shelves may become extinct as book lovers in this satellite town prefer to browse through online libraries, rent books of their choice and get delivered on the doorstep.
The habit of thumbing through cover to cover and sifting through book shelves may become extinct as book lovers in this satellite town prefer to browse through online libraries, rent books of their choice and get delivered on the doorstep.
Commuting daily between Gurgaon and Delhi for work leaves barely any spare time for Arti Shukla to visit a book store. Even though the city has limited number of book stores, the 28-year-old journalist has found an alternative through online libraries where she can avail two books every month for just Rs 150.
"Bookstores in Gurgaon are very few in number and that too in big shopping malls. Even my doctor husband also orders books online," said Arti, a resident of Sector 54.
Renting a book with a click of mouse has become a popular phenomenon especially among youngsters who find it more convenient to get the books delivered at their door steps without stepping out and facing the bustling traffic in this business hub. Hridesh Gupta, 31, says, "I keep travelling in different cities. I have changed stations twice in the last one year. You can't carry all your books with you everywhere. So the best bet is to order the books online to be delivered in any city at your home or office.”
Entrepreneur Mukta Sharma, 34, also prefers to have a book on rent through online libraries rather than searching books of her choice from shop to shop.
Sharma says, "I concede that one can't have the similar experience while browsing books on a website, which one gets while visiting a physical store but when you are pushed for time, it is a great source of convenience."
Online portals such as indiareads.com and bookmeabook.com are some of the favourite websites visited by the city book lovers.
“We get many orders from NCR especially Gurgaon. Out of 75 new customers from the entire Delhi-NCR region every month, we get 20 orders from Gurgaon,” said Gunjan Veda, CEO, indiareads.com.
