Bringing up bookworms

Bookworm Library at Chakkamukku, Punkunnam. By Faris Arakkal A GROUP of women in the city are scripting a new story with a venture to bring back the habit of reading through their Bookworm Library at Punkunnam. Nalini Venkitesh, Banu Raju, Prajitha Shaju, Shyla Navaz, Bhanumathi V, Latha Venugopal, and Preetha Venugopal are now making the library a haven of knowledge. Five of them are working and the others are housewives. After finishing their daily chores, they rush to the library. The library owned by Suresh was handed over to the group two years ago. "Internet has thwarted the reading of printed texts,'' said Nalini Venkitesh, head mistress of Hari Sri Nursery School. The library now holds around 30,000 books in different languages which include fiction, history, classics and general knowledge. Specially arranged space in the library for research has helped students do their projects. Now, the library has around 700 bookworms as its members. Banu Raju believes that most students are victims of retina problems now as they read less and spend more time sitting before computer. The bookworm race is another creative initiative taken by the library for students. After reading a book, each student colours a small square on the long picture of a worm. When they finish reading 50 books, a colourful worm is given birth. Then the library will acknowledge them with certificates. Often, they engage in buying books while they travel to other states. Each member provides an amount for the upkeep of the library. Some well-wishers donate books. They all thank Nalini Chandran, founder principal of Hari Sri Vidya Nidhi School Punkunnam, for her contributions. On Sunday, Bookworm Library celebrated its second anniversary and has brought out its first souvenir on the day. MT Vasudevan Nair wrote in the souvenir: "If you find it difficult to get any book from any corner of the world, inform me. I will sort it out for you."