Students in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh build community library to promote reading

Believing in the adage, the pen is mightier than the sword, youngsters residing in a remote village of Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh have come together to build a community library, to inspire the locals to read more.

Utilising a dismantled government structure, these students turned into masons and carpenters and modified the structure to build a community library. The work was complete in about 40 days under the supervision of All Tawang District Students' Union (ATDSU).

Chief Minister Arunachal Pradesh Pema Khandu praised their efforts in a tweet, saying,

“Students from #Tawang worked together to build this beautiful #CommunityLibrary. The entire construction work of reinforcing, shuttering, carpentry, masonry, roofing, etc were all done by students. Due to hardworking environment, average youths here possess such work skills.” He also shared a few photographs of the library.

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Pema Tsering, who is a student leader and in-charge of the library construction committee, told the The New Indian Express, “Tawang being a remote district, books are a rarity here. We also observed that not many people read books these days. So, we wanted to inspire them to get back to their reading habit and develop it among youth.”

The cost of the library came up to around Rs 6.5 lakh, which is half-concrete and half-wooden, and the roofing was completed with CGI sheets. The amount came from the union’s fund and the initiative has received assistance from well-wishers as well.

Tsering says that it will be different from other libraries in the state. It will mainly have inspirational books, comics etc for children, as reported by The Logical Indian.

In the past few days, more people became aware of the existence of the library through social media and are now coming forward to share books. A number of local students have also shared books with the library.

“We have no doubt the youth will get inspired and develop the habit of reading books. We will hand the library over to the state’s education department for its better management,” Tsering says.

The library is to be named after former Chief Minister, late Dorjee Khandu, as a tribute to his invaluable contributions to the state.

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