Bhubaneswar, April 23: On the occasion of World Book Day, which is celebrated on 23rd April, Bakul Foundation organized a Reading Marathon called READ-A-THON at the Bakul Library in Satyanagar here.
The marathon was open to readers below 30 years of age in two categories. Those below 10 years and those between 11 and 30 years. One had to read for three hours or get 30 points to complete the marathon. Of course, to win the marathon, one had to read the longest and garner the maximum points.
The response was overwhelming, and over 100 children and youth had come to participate along with their parents. And there were many of them, who went way beyond their required three hours to read for over six hours.
Satyajit Senapati, student of Class-IV, in DAV Chandrasekharpur said that normally, he reads 6-7 books a week.
“Today, I have already read 27 books from 12PM as certified by the volunteers. His target was to read 60 books today,” said Senapati.
Anika Singh said that she had come to the library for the first time, and she is quite excited because both her daughters, Shivika and Saanvi had read books for over 6 hours continuously with a short food break, and she was so happy that the girls were away from phones and television and devouring books.
Bakul Foundation has been leading a Library Movement in Odisha and has been trying to promote reading through many innovative activities and attempts. The storytelling festivals like BhuFeSto have been an attempt in this direction. Bakul has set up libraries and reading corners in public spaces like parks, museums, haats, cafes etc to bring books to people everywhere.
Sujit Mahapatra, the founder of Bakul Foundation said, “Although other events like storytelling have attracted children to the library, this event drew children to reading directly.”
