INDIAreads.com is a unique portal that designs and upgrades libraries for corporate houses and educational institutes besides selling and renting books online.
NOIDA: A rich collection of books or a dedicated libraryat home or office always helps, be it for knowledge, reference or simply for making a style statement. A Noida-based online bookstore-cum-library, INDIAreads.com has started a unique service of designing and advisory/consulting of library collections for corporate and education sector.
Launched in 2011, INDIAreads started as an online bookstore-cum-library with the objective of catering to book lovers and making books accessible for everyone and anywhere. Recently the portal recently started a consultancy for creating and designing libraries for all budgets - individuals, corporate houses, schools, colleges and community libraries.
The consultancy focuses on content creation. The clients either have a pre-decided budget for their library or they ask these consultants to prepare the budget. And so, the portal gives tailor-made packages.
"Our consulting services include corporate memberships where executives buy or rent books from us for their library. Or we prepare their budget and set up corporate libraries by designing and procuring specific books. Even for educational institutions we follow the same process. However most of these institutes opt for our upgradation or review services," says Gunjan Veda, CEO of INDIAreads.com.
Schools and educational institutes are their primary clients. "But several companies from the corporate realm from sectors such as, IT/ITes, retail and consulting firms have shown interest and have sent queries," informs Veda.
Her company designs libraries and then makes sure that they are upgraded regularly. "The after service focuses on maintenance, which includes periodical review through a contract. Generally a quarterly review is recommended but most of the clients go for six-monthly review," she says.
KNOWLEDGE IS WEALTH
Veda who has worked with the Planning Commission for some time has ensured that her corporate clients can access the INDIAreads library for their special reference collection. This collection comprises government of India publications, annual reports of ministries, guidelines on public private partnerships, state development reports etc.
"During my stint in the Planning Commission, I traveled places where people told us that they were unable to read books just because the physical accessibility was limited," says Veda.
With the book market growing in India, Veda has found an opportunity to carry forward her initiative to "leverage the knowledge economy and literacy levels in India". "The non-academic book market in India alone is growing at the rate of 15 percent per annum. Also with major international publishing houses opening their offices in the country, the scope for this segment is growing."
