Readers Club GGDSD
College, Chandigarh, organised an Event to Promote "Love for libraries and
reading" to honour Keralite teacher P.N. Panicker on National Reading
Day/National Reading Month Selfie with a Book. A month-long campaign under
National Library Month was organised to promote love for reading and Libraries,
which attracted social media coverage. In 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi
declared June 19 as National Reading Day in India in honour of the death
anniversary of PN Panicker. These events are conducted under the aegis of the
UGC, Government of India.
Readers Club's motto
behind organising Selfie with a Book is that it is a creative way to promote
reading that can connect people with authors and their favourite books. From
June 19 to July 18, 2023, esteemed personalities from different spheres like
Literature, theatre, arts, education, libraries, academics, and media
Nationally and internationally, people joined our National Reading Month
celebrations. Dr. Surjit Patar, renowned Punjabi Poet; Rana Ranbir, Actor; Bhag
Malhotra from Bahrisons; Mandeep Singh Manu, Artist; Ms. Inderjit Nandan,
professional accountant and social & disability activist; Dr. Mahendra
Khadgawat, IAS, Director Rajasthan Archaeology and Museum Department &
State Archives; Mr. Rajeev Khanna, Associate Editor, TheCitizen.in; Shiv Inder
Singh, Founder and Editor-in-chief of Suhi Saver; Sukirat Anand, a prominent
literary figure of Punjab; Prof. Chaman Lal, distinguished writer &
academician; Prof. Jagtar Singh, esteemed academician and co-author of UNESCO
MIL Curriculum; Amandeep Sandhu, an author of Panjab Journeys Through Fault
Lines; Amardeep Singh, an Independent Visual Ethnographic Researcher; Svetlana
GOROKHOVA, Chair of the Russian Library Association Section,
International Cooperation; Prof Emirates Sunita Pathania, Panjab
University, Chandigarh; Jaswant Zafar Punjabi writer & poet; Balbir
Parwana; Punjabi writer, Shiv Kunal Verma, Indian military historian and
documentary film maker; Dr. Vishnu D. Rajput, Associate professor & head of
the Soil Health Lab; Col Rajinder Singh; Sukhdev Singh, Informatics
Professional; Harish Pakhowal, educator; Dr. Mayank, Universty Librarian, The
Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda; Channi Takulia, creative artist;
Amritpal Singh Ghudda, Cyclist; Baldev Singh Kuraiwala, Cyclist; Rma Sekhon,
Director of the Australian Punjabi Channel; Dr.Sridhar Gautam, Senior Scientist
ICAR, Bengaluru; Dr. Kavita Chaddha, Deputy Librarian, Indian Institute of
Management, Lucknow; Mushtaq Pasha, Film Director; Dr.Neeraj Kumar,
Deputy Librarian, Panjab University, Chandigarh; Dr. Rajesh Singh, Universty
Librarian, University of Delhi; Dr. Seema Pillai, Principal, Smt. Devkiba
Mohan Joshi Chauhan College; Professor Meenu Gupta, Panjab University,
Chandigarh; Neeru Khattar; Owner of Cup te Kitab; Prof.Pita Jarupunphol, Phuket
Rajabhat University, Thailand and the event was closed with the digital remarks
from professor Emeritus Ishtiaq Ahmed, a renowned Swedish political scientist.
These prominent figures inspired, strengthened, and became torch bearers for
our campaign for the promotion of the PN Panicker: Read and Grow motto. These
personalities are the torchbearers for young learners and can tempt them
towards reading.
Posting striking
photos of influential individuals with books with the goal of attracting
readers' attention on social media is the driving force behind the novel and
inventive "Selfie with a Book" campaign. Reading an e-book can be
everlasting or at any time, but a hard copy is touchable, and one can
definitely feel when it ends. A hard copy is suitable for people to perceive
the world through touch and the smell of old books and their yellow-turned
pages or newly published books. The experience of turning the pages of a book
and feeling its weight as you read is one that can't be replicated by anything.
Dr. Gurpreet Singh,
Convener, Readers Club, explains that the 'Selfie with a Book' campaign is a
great way to promote reading for pleasure and a way of bringing users to their
native libraries to find their favourite book. Books can bring joy, so next
time you are looking for something to do, pick up a book, click your photo with
it, and cherish this memory forever.
Dr. Ajay Sharma,
Principal of the college, emphasised the importance of libraries for
communities academically as well as as centres of learning and culture, and
that reading culture plays a pivotal role in the growth of the nation. He also
congratulated the Readers Club for organising a month-long selfie with a book
campaign in remembrance of PN Panicker.
