XLRI students to upgrade digital library soon

JAMSHEDPUR: Encouraged by the overwhelming response to the digital library in the remote Janumdih village of Potka block in the district, the general management programme (GMP) students of XLRI have announced upgradation of the library.

With near full capacity attendance of the young villagers, who are not only reading the books but also spending quality time surfing internet on the computer donated by the XLRI students, the organizers intend to upgrade the library with an additional collection of books. "We plan to add to the existing collection of books in the library soon," said Himanshu Singh, member of the XLRI team that together with the city-based NGO, Kalamandir opened the library and installed the computer with internet and webcam facility, earlier this month.

Singh said the digital library and the computer system, currently maintained by a local computer literate youth, Satyaji Barui, will be shifted to a nearby location in the same village. It will then be upgraded with new and interesting features. The library boasts of over 500 books in Hindi, English and Bengali.

The NGO and the XLRI team had zeroed in on Janmudih village once they were convinced that this village was most deserving of a proper library. "During our initial interactions with the local villagers, we had come across an elderly man, village pradhan, Manu Singh Sardar, who had shared with us how for several years he had been planning to open a library in the village," a member of the XLRI team said.

Deepak Suri, Devesh Thakur, Gaurav Sharma, Mayank Gupta, Ravjit Kokardekar, Mandar Buddhikot, Tanveer Anwar and Paul Jacob, were part of the team that worked on the successful implementation of the sustainable social project.

"Though this is part of our curriculum but it also gives us immense joy to see the villagers happy. With the use of Internet and books available in the library, they would gain so much knowledge with such ease," Singh said.

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