DK district's first community library

Mangaluru: A member of a tribal Koraga community listed as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) has started a library for the community members.

Ramesh, among the first generation from the community to be literate, took up the initiative to set up the library. He said he felt there was a need for a library for the school-going children of his community.

The library is a single room attached to the community hall at Gundavupadavu on the outskirts of the city containing 500 books. It was built using grants from the Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP).

The books were donated by the Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy (KTSA), retired lecturers and by T G Guruprasad, tahsildar of Mangaluru.

Guruprasad said that he was very happy when community members approached him for help in setting up the library. The tahsildar donated books amounting to Rs 15,000 and also had the book racks for the library get made.