Punjab appoints 693 new school librarians in a day. Will this rekindle the love for reading?

There is a piece of good news for literary enthusiasts in Punjab. On Monday, the state's Education Minister Pargat Singh handed over appointment letters to 693 newly-recruited librarians for government schools, reported The Indian Express. While addressing the programme, the minister said, “Libraries and books play an important role in nurturing and shaping up the personalities of students. We need to inculcate reading culture in schools.” He added that literary and sports activities play an important role in the overall development of students. He expressed confidence that recruitment of librarians will give a new look to school libraries.

According to The Indian Express report, the state's Education Secretary Ajoy Sharma said that the recruitment has been done by the SS Board in a transparent manner on the basis of pure merit. He too, said that libraries do play a key role in a student's life. "This recruitment would be game-changer and a milestone in inculcating interest in reading among the students, bringing more constructive improvements in the way of getting the education and bringing about revolutionary changes in school education, he said.

According to a recent study, currently, Punjab has 1 Central State library, 14 district libraries, 104 municipal libraries, 1,200 rural libraries and 3,000 reading rooms.