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Keeping the habit of reading alive: Nana kirana mobile libraries
The Kochchikade old Public Library in Kochchikade at Negombo has recently launched a series of projects to keep the habit of reading alive among the people in this area.
The Kochchikade Public Library hopes to conduct more 'nana kirana’ clubs among school children to help them develop their reading skills.
“We started mobile reading libraries called ‘nana kirana’,” the Kochchikade library’s Chief Librarian C. S. M. Fernando told the Sunday Times.
“Most of the people who visit our library are adults, and they come here to read newspapers. They are interested in reading the newspapers because they want to know about what’s going on in our country on a daily basis. On the other hand, the younger readers are more interested in reading novels, story books, biographies and non-fiction books on various topics such as technology and innovation,” Miss Fernando said.
“We have understood the different tastes in reading material and we are trying our best to cater to all our readers’ needs. We have also held a few competitions among the school children and they were given valuable prizes and certificates by the Negombo Municipal Commissioner,” she added.
The Kochchikade Library was opened on July 15 1976, under the purview of the Negombo Municipal Council Library, which had been serving the community for 40 years by then.
It is currently equipped with 19,000 books and caters to a 3000 strong membership. They hope to conduct more ‘nana kirana’ clubs among school children to help them develop their reading skills.