In an effort to inculcate the reading habit among students and provide better facilities for those in remote areas, the state government has decided to introduce mobile libraries in all the districts.

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Chennai:

The mobile libraries will have various books, including guides for competitive exams and periodicals, will visit the government schools in the morning and students will be allowed to read for an hour and take books for reference.

“The mobile unit will also have seating facility for readers,” a senior official said and added that at present the mobile libraries were available in 12 districts and would be extended to other parts of the state in another two months.

According to the official, the library on wheels with its organised collection of books and other materials including maps, films, and compact discs (CDs) would be of great information source to the public and help in expanding their knowledge.

While the service will also be available for the general public, more than one lakh students are expected to be benefit when the facility is expanded to more places.

The official said the government was also planning to set up more than 700 part-time libraries in villages. Branch libraries would also be set up in urban and rural areas with a population between 5,000 and 50,000 as part of the effort to cover all the areas.

The earlier initiative of Class Room Library Scheme has benefited a total of 16.94 lakh students from 3,593 schools, the official said.