On the one hand, you have the relentless din of AI transforming lives in India like elsewhere in the world in virtually every sphere. On the other, state governments are still seen partnering with civil society organisations to set up libraries in their respective territories.

An agency report reveals how the Delhi government has planned to open libraries in all Assembly constituencies to encourage reading habits, particularly among young people from economically weaker sections.

Under the initiative, the government proposes to set up a minimum of one and a maximum of two libraries in each of its 70 Assembly constituencies under the “Bhagidari” scheme, an order issued by the Department of Art, Culture and Language said.

The libraries will operate in association with NGOs, which will be required to provide adequate space to accommodate at least 30 readers at a time, the order said. NGOs will also arrange for the display of newspapers, magazines, journals and other reading material, it said.

In the first year, each NGO will be eligible for a grant-in-aid of Rs 1.03 lakh, in two equal instalments, it said. Of this amount, 40 per cent will be earmarked for furniture and fixtures, another 40 per cent for reading material such as books, newspapers and magazines, and the remaining 20 per cent for staff honorarium, it added.

It mentioned that from the second year onwards, NGOs may receive up to Rs 40,000 annually in two instalments. Of this amount, 70 per cent will be used for the purchase of newspapers and magazines, while 30 per cent will be allocated towards staff honorarium.

As per a recent statement put out by Press Information Bureau (Dec 15, 2025), India has a total of 46,746 public libraries across states and Union Territories. The data is of a survey undertaken in 2018-19, the latest available.

Not surprisingly, the five southern states have 21,485 libraries in all, accounting for over 45 per cent of the total number all over India. The maximum libraries are in Maharashtra -12,191 with Kerala out beating everyone else in the peninsula with 8,415 libraries nestled in its domain. What is surprising is that Andhra Pradesh has just 978 libraries and its Telugu counterpart, 672. Even if taken together (as a pre-bifurcation statistic), it is just 1,650, much lower than Tamil Nadu with 4,622 and Karnataka with 6,798.

There have been some recent moves announced by the Congress government to have libraries set up in each of the Assembly constituencies. However, the delay in transfer of library cess and the pitiable upkeep of its libraries have often made it to the headlines, indicating a yawning gap between what is announced and what is the situation at the ground level.

The benefits of reading a book, browsing through printed material and referring to archival material offline have been listed out but the young generation is comfortable living in cyberspace.

What is needed is a recalibration of time and effort to go through not just text and graphics on illuminated screens but also enjoy the feel of paper and the rustle of pages as one goes back and forth in time to understand what life has been all about and how it is going to be in future.