Kolkata Couple Opens Free Street Library, Turns An Old Fridge Into A Book Shelf!

There are three things that will instantly pop in your mind when you think of Kolkata – mishti doi, Rabindranath Tagore, and books! No matter which locality you are in, you will always find a roadside book store that has at least one copy of Tagore’s work and a nearby mishtir dokan selling Bengali delicacies. That is how much we love them and spreading that love only makes us happier.

Speaking of which, a Bengali couple, Kalidas Haldar and Kumkum Haldar teamed up with a kirana store owner to open a free street library in Kolkata’s Patuli. What’s even better is that they took an old fridge and turned it into a bookshelf!

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The couple had approached the kirana store owner, Tarapodh Kahar, and asked if they could use some space of his store to keep the books, reveal sources. Kahar readily agreed.

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So now, just outside the store, there is a large shelf and the fridge-turned-shelf filled with books for elders and youngsters to read.

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In a message that’s attached to the fridge, readers are asked to take a book for free and return it after a month. Anyone can contribute to the library. It says that the idea of this library is to help people develop a reading habit and create a “book-loving community”.

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People online absolutely loved the initiative and hoped for more places to start similar libraries as well. Here’s what some of them said:

 

I’m sure avid readers will throng this place soon!

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