Summary
Storybooks, comic books and textbooks are some of the genres of books that the CMC has received.
The Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) has received nearly 500 books from Calcuttans who have responded to a call to donate books for primary schools run by the civic body.
Mayor Firhad Hakim made the appeal on September 15, urging citizens to donate books that will be used to set up libraries in CMC’s schools.
Storybooks, comic books and textbooks are some of the genres of books that the CMC has received.
Civic officials said they want more people to come forward and donate books. The CMC is issuing appeals through repeated posts on its social media handles.
Two siblings donated three bags of around 100 books. A resident of Chowringhee donated about 20 books that her sons no longer use. A Chetla resident donated around 20 books.
A third-year computer science student at the Vellore Institute of Technology, Ishi Singh, and her younger brother Ayushmaan, a Class VIII student at St Xavier’s Collegiate School, went to a CMC school to donate around 100 books.
“When I came home a few days back, my mother told me about this initiative launched by the CMC. She said I should give all the books that my brother and I no longer require,” said Ishi, a Ballygunge resident. “Some of the books that we have are quite costly and many people may not be able to buy them. I will be happy if children in the CMC school read the books and enjoy them.”
Ayushmaan said he loved reading mystery novels and some of the books he gave away included ones in this genre. “It includes Sherlock Holmes, Enid Blyton, Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn,” he said.
Ayushmaan and Ishi are the children of the CMC commissioner.
Sanifa Farha, a mother of two, gave 16 books once used by her sons. “I handed them over at a CMC school in the lane opposite St James’ School. These include story books and some elementary learning books. Both my sons will not need them anymore,” she said.
Priyadarshini Hakim, daughter of Calcutta’s mayor, donated about 20 books. “These are books once used by my 5-year-old son. There are books on how to pronounce a word and also story books,” she said.
There are 224 CMC schools, with classes from Nursery to V, with around 15,000 students. Not all the schools have their own building — many buildings house two schools that run in shifts, in the morning and in the afternoon.
Most students in these schools come from low-income families where the culture of reading is often not prevalent.
If there are libraries in the schools, the children will develop a habit of reading, CMC officials said.
The list of schools where the books can be donated is available on the CMC’s website. The books can be donated till October 10. There are posts on the Facebook page of the civic body that have the phone numbers of two officials who can be contacted to donate the books.
Last updated on 10 Oct 2023
