A Ranchi social outfit will provide free library memberships to children to help them prepare for various examinations to ensure that poor students do not drop out of school for want of resources.

Rotary Ranchi Central (RRC) office-bearers said on Thursday, that they have tied up with International Library and Cultural Centre (ILCC) located at Club Road for their endeavour. They rolled out two numbers ( 9835127273/7050315210) and an

email id (education.rotaryranchicentral@gmail.com), asking people to recommend needy children. Students can also independently contact them on these numbers and enrol for the scheme.

Atul Gera, a member of the outfit, said the idea to provide library memberships to poor kids for free for a year struck them after seeing the problems many were facing.

“During the Covid-19 pandemic, the poverty index and scope of earnings have shrunk for many people. As schools remained closed for 22 months, many poor parents are considering discontinuing school education of their wards because of poverty. Not many have access to a library with good facilities. To begin with, we thought of facilitating poor kids with books to pursue their studies,” he said.

He said that ILCC provides good ambience and atmosphere for students to sit and study at a central location in Ranchi. “Books are available for students of all streams. The place can accommodate more thatn 100 students. There are many students who are already preparing for competitive exams from there. Hence, we tied up with this library to provide free membership for all those needy,” he said.

Gera said Rotray was also tying up with individual donors and was in discussions with more institutions to help with providing free library memberships to needy students. “Donors will also be approached to donate books to keep the library updated,” he said.