What if an airport lounge, a doctor’s clinic, or even a vehicle showroom could double up as a library? That’s the idea driving Grant Road-based Ratnanidhi Charitable Trust. The venture’s latest initiative seeks to transform these waiting spaces into libraries to boost a reading culture among people across the country.

The idea of taking libraries beyond educational institutions began nearly a decade ago in 2016, when the trust realised that people spend long hours waiting in places such as doctors’ clinics, hospitals and commercial establishments. “Our job is to make people read,” says Rajiv Mehta, managing trustee, Ratnanidhi Charitable Trust. “We wanted to create libraries in non-conventional spaces where people have time but often don’t have access to books. We realised people spend hours waiting in these places. If books are available, they are more likely to pick one up.” This led them to set up reading corners in doctors’ clinics across Mumbai.