35,000 books, 1 crore e-books: Delhi gets a tech-enabled public library

Inaugurating the library, Shah said, “While one should always think before speaking, one must first read in order to know what to think — and such understanding can only be gained through a library.”

Referring to a similar initiative undertaken in his Lok Sabha constituency of Gandhinagar, he said that nearly every village there has a library with 3,000-4,000 books connected to a central library housing more than 1.25 lakh books.
Maintaining that reading enables people to develop informed opinions, he urged the Delhi government to prepare a plan to interconnect libraries and link them with schools.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, who was present at the inauguration, said the library would serve as a valuable resource for the youth and students. “Aspirants preparing for the UPSC and other competitive examinations will benefit from its conducive academic environment and state-of-the-art study facilities… this would inspire and empower Delhi’s youth,” she added.

NDMC Director of Welfare department, Anjum Siddiqui, said the library requires minimal manual intervention. “This is a public library and anyone can come here. Visitors can register for membership and issue books using facial recognition. RFID-tagged books can be self-issued by tapping them at a kiosk,” she said.

Membership costs Rs 500 annually. A lifetime security deposit of Rs 1,000 is charged for NDMC residents and Rs 2,000 for non-residents.