Bhubaneswar: Bakul Foundation, which has been leading a library movement in Odisha, on Sunday organised the first Blind Date with books at Satyanagar in Bhubaneswar.
During the event at Baku Library, readers experienced reading a book they had not chosen or selected much like blind dates when one does not know the person set up with. The book chosen for them by the Bakul volunteers was based on their reading preferences, which they shared when they registered for the event.
What readers enjoyed most is the treasure hunt that they had to participate in, before discovering their blind date. They had to go through 4 sets of clues, and in the process, they got to explore the library and the richness of the collection.
More than 50 readers participated in the event.
Although the majority were young college students, well-known writers such as Anil Dhir and Panchami Manoo Ukil loved the treasure hunt, which was a fun way of getting them to find their book date.
“The clues were intriguing but easy to follow, yes it was interesting today. I didn’t expect it. I thought I would just walk in and pick up a book and read but it was very nice going up and down searching for it. It took me around 10-15 minutes to find my book after I got the knack of it. I liked my book, I don’t know if it was by chance or something but I had given my preferences in the form and the book i got was the same thing. It’s a very nice thing that you are promoting books, anybody who reads the book for even 30 minutes i think your objective is fulfilled,” Dhir said.
12-year-old Sidiksha Dixit, an avid reader, who participated in the Blind Date along with her father said, “I find this concept to be really exciting and it’s a very new concept that i’ve come across, it’s really nice actually. Finding the clues, having a small treasure hunt and getting to know all these things about the library, it’s really nice. It’s very exhilarating to know all these books, rooms and all. It’s all very nice.”
“The Bakul Library is known to have a great collection of children’s books but often people see it only as a children’s library, how it started. But we have a very rich collection of books for young people and adults, and we wanted to attract college students to read and explore the library,” said founder of Bakul Foundation Sujit Mahapatra.
He also spoke about Bakul’s attempts at different experiments such as Reading Marathons and Human Library to create interest in libraries and reading. “We create libraries for reluctant readers. I strongly believe that someone who does not read has just not found the right book that could get them on the journey of reading,” he stressed.
Encouraged by the response, Bakul is planning to repeat the Blind Date with Books every few months, added the founder.
