The purpose of the event was to promote reading habit, M Bhojarajan, convenor, Vasagar Sangamam (Readers Confluence), organisers of the event, said.
The books were brought from the nearby library, and people and some library members were asked to converge at the stadium.
The books were given as per the age like cartoons and comics to children, confidence building books to the youth and religious books to senior citizens, he said.
This could perhaps be the first time when more than 5,000 persons converged at a place and read books for one hour, Bhojarajan said.