COLOMBO : Sri Lanka’s second Street Library was inaugurated today as a gift to the people of Kandy on behalf of the people of Pakistan to further enhance the timeless friendship between our two countries. Books in all three languages Sinhala, Tamil and English will be available at the library.
The ribbon cutting ceremony was jointly done by the High Commissioner of Pakistan to Sri Lanka Maj Gen (R) Umar Farooq Burki, HI (M) & the Commissioner of the Kandy Municipal Council, followed by signing of handing-over document of the library administration to the Kandy Municipality for maintenance, security & upkeep of the property & books.
The location of the library is a scenic public area in the Sahas Uyana nearby Kandy City Center. The idea is that such location will be in easy access of the readers to keep up their interest in reading. Anyone can access this library for free. The Pakistan Hony Consul for Kandy Afzal Marikar was also present at the event .
The building and books were donated by the Government of Pakistan, under the concept of a “Street Library”. This Library has a different concept compared to traditional libraries and will operate on the concept of “Take a book, leave a book”. There is no librarian and anyone can come here and read books. Readers are encouraged to donate quality books of their choice to the library, especially when they are taking any book with them.
The Government of Pakistan believes that raging violence in the world can only be alleviated by a humane society of educated thinking and aesthetic minds.
Therefore, we thank the Government of Sri Lanka on behalf of our country for appreciating and accepting our proposal and their cooperation and provision of a suitable area for construction of the library.
