Pre-teens set up reading room for poor children

A library conceptualised by two pre-teens threw open its doors here on Wednesday with a collection of a thousand books to spread the joy of reading among underprivileged children.

Ideated by 12-year-old Manaswi Dugar and nine-year-old Suhasini Dugar and brought to fruition by their mother Sheetal, Readers Planet aims to make reading accessible to children of all ages.

"Manaswi and Suhasini wanted to distribute books to children who did not have access to reading material. But they realised they could only reach out to a few. To ensure underprivileged children get access, we decided to set up a reading room in our own property," Sheetal told IANS.

Set up in a 300 square feet space in Ballygunge in south-central Kolkata, Readers Planet has different sections with books on science, history, geography, general knowledge, value education, English and Hindi story books besides others.

It will remain open from Monday to Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and the use of the reading room is free of cost.

--IANS

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