KARACHI: A street library was inaugurated by Sindh Chief Secretary Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah here on Wednesday at Commissioner’s Corner, adjacent to Village Restaurant, Metropole building.

In order to attract attention of the people the corner wall has been renovated by carving portraits of the Quaid-i-Azam, Madar-i-Millat Fatima Jinnah, Poet of the East Allama Iqbal where two almirahs filled with books have been placed. Any passerby can benefit from these books. The almirahs do not have any lock but are open for all interested in reading. A book could be taken at a time to read at home by replacing it with another book.

The project has been undertaken by Commissioner Karachi Iftikhar Shallwani as a tribute to Quaid-i-Azam on his 143rd birth anniversary.

The simple ceremony was attended by diplomats as well as eminent literati including Ghazi Salahuddin, Muneeza Shamsie, Rumana Husain, and other well-known writers, along with officials.

Opening the street library by cutting a ribbon, Chief Secretary Shah showed his appreciation for the establishment of the library and said libraries play an important role in formal and informal learning and in development and cultural activities. This library, which is one of such libraries to be established in every city of the province including Hyderabad and Sukkur, will promote peace and reading culture and contribute to restoration of the past glory of Karachi.

He congratulated the commissioner and his team for making the dream of the street library a reality. He said that the concept of the library was to develop a society which valued culture. “We could together make this city a true international city”, he observed.

Earlier welcoming the guests Commissioner Shallwani said that the idea of setting up the street library is part of efforts being carried out for the promotion of reading culture in the city. He said all six districts of the city would also have such street libraries.

He said directives to all the deputy commissioners have been issued to set up such libraries beside making efforts to improve the existing public libraries for the promotion of reading culture in society. The commissioner said all possible efforts were being made to rehabilitate the existing libraries run by the government institutions.

Published in Dawn, December 26th, 2019