Someone’s book can be another’s shoes
Chamya Liyanage: Reaching out with books
‘Read and Return’ is an initiative begun by 20-year-old Chamya Liyanage back in December 2019. An avid reader encouraged by her family particularly by her older sister when she was quite young, Chamya too wanted to inspire others to read as she noticed many people around her saying how they missed reading when they were kids.
“‘Read and Return’ is basically a platform where people can purchase secondhand books and if they choose to return the book, they get back 50% of the money that they paid for it. All the proceeds earned from this go directly to our charity project, ‘Read For Shoes’,” Chamya tells us explaining how the benefits are two-fold when reading with them.
Once a customer places an order for a book that is advertised through their Instagram, Chamya carefully wraps the order in eco-friendly packaging using old newspapers, goni nul (jute ribbon) and tags made out of recycled paper. The packages are then posted or delivered if they are within Colombo. If the customer chooses to return the book, once again a pickup point or where the book needs to be delivered to is discussed and 50% of the money refunded to the customer. Her family and friends lend a hand with the logistics.
“With the money that remains with us, we collect it and buy school shoes for students who are less fortunate. We had the first phase of this charity project in February where we donated 27 pairs of shoes for underprivileged children schooling in Mirigama,” she shares proudly adding that there was a slight delay in getting things started because of the ongoing pandemic.
Although the collection available at ‘Read and Return’ began with her family’s own personal library at home, many customers have also shown willingness to contribute and donate books so that they can share their favourite reads for others to enjoy. It is a community of book lovers because many of the books even though they’re preloved are in good condition and taken care of, Chamya tells us.
From murder/mystery, romance, children’s books, biographies and more, ‘Read and Return’ has already created temporary libararies not just in Colombo but all over the island including Puttalam, Kandy, Matale, etc. There are plans to expand their collections in Kandy and Galle once more volunteers come onboard this initiative which Chamya hopes to register as a non-profit organisation very soon.
Shoes for schoolchildren
“I picked up my reading because of the adults around me, and that changed my life a lot. I think parents and older siblings should encourage the little ones in their life to read. It doesn’t matter what kind of books but just to let them read as much as they want,” Chamya says adding that without the support of her family, her friends and best friend who helped her name these initiatives, she wouldn’t be where she is today.
A young girl with a giant heart, Chamya, a former student of Lyceum International, Wattala, is also a very active volunteer with ‘Save the Children’, ‘Tails of Freedom’ and ‘Sri Lanka Youth Organisation’ which she balances while doing her undergraduate degree at NSBM in banking and financial risk management. Her mindset is that although you might not be able to help everyone once you begin being empathetic, even that one small change you could make in a person’s life would make a big difference.
Check them out on Instagram @readandreturn.co
Books for everyone. Pix by Chamya Liyanage