'Inculcating habit of reading books among youths need of hour'

Inculcating the habit of reading books among the youth was the need of the hour, Thane District Collector Rajesh Narvekar said on Tuesday.

He also suggested that a village of books should be created in the district on the lines of Bhilar village in Satara district of Maharashtra.

He was speaking at the inauguration of an exhibition of rare books at the Marathi Grantha Sangrahalaya here.

"There is a growing demand for digitisation of rare literature and books...The need of the hour is to create interest among the youth to take up the habit of reading books," he said.

"While bridges and other infrastructure are the heart of the city, libraries are the soul and both need to be be preserved and protected," the collector said.

He also said that libraries need to adopt modern methods to reach to the readers.