Wooks.lk Sri Lanka’s First Online Book Library for Children

If you’ve missed visiting libraries and bookstores, and have found it a challenge to keep your children engaged and occupied at home, Wooks.lk offers a simple yet effective solution.

Wooks.lk was born out of the desire to offer interactive children’s books in a safe space online. “Our platform offers interactive books in both Sinhala as well as English, read aloud by elocution teachers of both languages. It also comprises traditional Sri Lankan folklore titles, as well as English storybooks, the first of its kind in Sri Lanka,” explained founder Boopathy Kahathuduwa. “We also have our own set of educated and professional storytellers who have created fresh tales for our website,” he added.

A lawyer by profession and CIMA lecturer, Kahathuduwa noted a dire need for a platform for digitally available books for children across the island. Currently, each book uploaded to the website has been verified by qualified kindergarten teachers, language masters, categorised by age groups and is available in both Sinhala and English languages. “We are in the process of expanding our library to include Tamil books as well,” he said.

The storybooks are available free, along with a larger extensive selection that can be purchased. The free version also allows for sample stories and children’s colouring books that can be viewed online.

Wooks.lk was officially launched at Temple Trees recently with Namal Rajapaksa, Cabinet Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, State Minister of Digital Technology and Entrepreneur Development.

Wooks offers three monthly subscription packs that allow its viewers to have unlimited views of the entire library on any functional electronic device, with new titles added monthly. The Sinhala subscription is priced at Rs. 499, the English subscription is priced at Rs. 699 and subscription for both languages is Rs. 999 a month. Wooks.lk recommends using a laptop or a device with a large screen for an enhanced experience.

“We intend to enable every child to read, so if there is a child out there who wants to read but cannot afford to purchase books, our platform will provide free access. Teachers can reach out to us and we will give our entire library free of charge to the student, rural schools, nursery or children’s home.”

“We hope to keep adding books to our library and also include educational books in the future. We’ve come to realise there’s a deeper impact in terms of teaching our children good habits and mannerisms in a fun and interactive way, apart from sharing knowledge online. We aim to therefore utilise this platform in such a way that it beneficially impacts its users,” said Kahathuduwa.

For more information visit www.wooks.lk