Schoolchildren beg for books to set up school library

MYUSURU: These kids went begging for a cause. And they weren’t asking for money but books.
A group of 50, including students of Rotary Brindavan School and members of Rotary Mysuru Brindavan, came knocking on the doors of Brindavan Layout residents on Sunday with the unusual request for good old books.
Pustaka Bhikshe, as the unique project is called, aims to collect unwanted books from residents, students and club members and set up a library for their school.On Sunday, the group visited nearly 300 houses and collected over 3,000 books in less than three hours. They started at 9am and ended the ‘book begging’ exercise by noon.
Members collected text books, literary works, grammar books, engineering books and many more. They also managed to get works on renowned personalities and vachanas of Basavanna and Kuvempu.
The group, comprising 35 school students and 15 club members, spread across the layout in two teams. The exercise was pre-planned and residents of Brindavan Layout had been informed a week earlier to keep their books ready. The students had campaigned, given away pamphlets, and also requested residents not to throw away their books.
“We could buy new books to develop our school library, but our intention was not to waste resources,” said club president D Ashwath.
The idea is to reuse old books. In fact, the group also got a few rare books in the process. Many residents were supportive as they could dispose of unwanted books in an easy manner.
“I had nearly 20 books, most of them school and college text books. I did not want them to go waste and was waiting for someone who could use them,” said Vidya Deepak, a resident. “I have some more books but could not give all at once,” she added.
“In the coming days we’ll extend our campaign to other areas as well,” said Ashwath.