Those days magazines like Tinkle, Gokulam, Champak, Amar Chitra Katha comics and Chandamama, which told stories of mythology and folklore, kept children busy reading.
Parents want their children to experience the same. They want their kids to read books, and feel the thrill of reading through colourful pages.
But, with the advent of the television, playstations and Xboxes, kids today are hardly seen with a book in their hands. The delicate fingers are seldom seen flipping pages as they are busy pressing buttons on a console.
To add to the growing concern of parents, libraries are hardly found in the vicinity and as an alternative have to buy books which are quite expensive.
Promodini Prashant was one parent who realised this problem and founded i-cue along with her friend Meghana Rao.
i-cue is a dedicated children’s library which delivers books to the doorsteps. This innovative venture tackles the problems of a library such as fixed return dates, inconvenient timing and unavailability of children’s books.
Parents get to choose the type of books, and it will be home delivered in bright colourful bags made to attract children. The aim of the library is to inculcate the habit of reading even among the most reluctant children.
Pick up
The library hosts more than 7,000 books for various age groups, selected by an expert child development team. Parents get to either choose the thematic kits which are a set of books with a common theme, or an assorted kit which is mix of genre of books. The books will also be picked up once the reading is done.
Most parents feel that a healthy reading habit is necessary for their children but hazels of a library and book prices are a roadblock when they want to provide the same for their kids says Promodhini Prashant.
Bangalore venture
The library has already been launched in Bangalore and is running successfully for the past four years with around 300 members.
The library now launched in Mysore has books which have been sourced from all over the world. Subscription start from Rs 199 per month and goes up to Rs 300.
We want children not to read for the sake of reading, but they must associate reading with pleasure, adds Promodini. The library plans to tie up with local schools and expand its base. Currently i-cue is operating from the i can school in Yadavgiri.