The management of vernacular daily Prabhat Khabar on Tuesday donated 222 books to the Gandhi Seva Sadan Library, one of the oldest book repositories of Dhanbad, to take their count of written treasures to around 4,783.

Ranging from literature to history, biographies to science, mythology to fiction, the books were donated in the presence of Additional District Magistrate (law and order) Chandan Kumar, who is also the ex- officio Vice President of Gandhi Seva Sadan Managing Committee.

“We will be running a week-long campaign to enrich the stock of our library, under which we will approach various corporate houses operating in the district asking them to contribute through their Corporate Social Responsibility fund. These include BCCL, Tata Steel, SAIL and other such companies, general secretary of the Gandhi Seva Sadan Mr Gopal said.

He also said that the authority will meet the sub-divisional officer of Dhanbad, Surendra Prasad, seeking his permission to reinitiate a book-reading facility and the provision for holding debates and other events that were suspended due to the pandemic.

“Renovation of the library is also likely to begin soon for its modernisation, as per the detailed project report prepared by us,” the general secretary added.

Noted social worker and former Chairman of Bokaro Industrial Area Development Authority (BIADA), Bijay Jha said, “At a time when the habit of reading books is gradually decreasing among the younger generations, such an initiative will help in a great way to bring the tradition back.”