67-year-old Jeevan Ingale on mission to inculcate reading habit among people through his library on bicycle

on Jan 21, 2022

In the midst of worries being communicated over the decrease in the book-reading practise in the current age, 67-year-old Jeevan Ingale, an inhabitant of Khatav tehsil of Maharashtra's Satara region, has been determined to teach this habit among the youthful and old the same in the encompassing regions as he pedals his library on cycle to loan books to them.

Ingale, a book lover from a little town called Budh in Khatav tehsil and an impassioned devotee of Mahatma Gandhi's musings, began the drive 12 years prior and presently his versatile library project has become famous among kids and grown-ups nearby.

“I have studied only up to Class 11, but I always had a penchant for reading. I used to read Gandhiji and was also inspired by Sane Guruji (Marathi author and freedom fighter) and his book ‘Shyam Chi Aai’. After spending a few years with Shetkari Sanghatana, I quit the movement and decided to do something related to books,” Ingale told PTI.

He said he had around 70 books in 2007 and started a non-profit organization called 'Sarvodaya Social Organization'. Presently, he has north of 2,600 books, which he loans to around 500 individuals from his versatile library.

“Initially, I used to carry books with me. Wherever I went, I used to offer books to people and encourage them to read. I received a good response as people started taking the books and reading them,” said Ingale, whose father had joined India’s freedom struggle at the age of 16 after Mahatma Gandhi gave the ‘Chale Jao’ call against the British.

Reading assisted Ingale with shaping his own viewpoints on different issues. He then, at that point, began prescribing books to individuals, which could help them in their scholarly development.

Ingale said that as he additionally works for the climate preservation, he chose to utilize a bike to contact individuals.

"I began utilizing a bike on which I fixed a little box to convey books and began accelerating it to the close by towns in the tehsil. I began empowering kids, understudies, their folks and relatives to understand books," he said.
He charges just a single rupee as library participation expense from individuals and loans books to them.

“The idea to start a mobile library struck my mind after I realised that the government-run libraries were non-functional in rural areas. I came up with the plan to take a library at people’s doorstep and inculcate reading habit among them by lending books on various subjects like spirituality, history, biographies of some great personalities, and also on science, which help in the growth of scientific temperament,” he said.

"At the point when I return to families to trade books, I request that individuals give their criticism on the books and furthermore ask them to compose it. I examine about books with the individuals during such visits," he said.

Kajal Barge, a designing understudy, one of the individuals from Ingale's library, said that she and her whole family have been reading the books since the most recent quite a while.

"Once while I was getting back from school when I was in Class 11, Ingale sir moved toward me and offered 'Ek Hota Carver' (a Marathi) book and urged me to understand it. I read the book and fostered a preference for reading. Up until this point, I have read a few books, which have enhanced my life," she said.