Udalguri police station welcomes visitors with in-house library

Guwahati: At a time when the habit of reading seems to be an ebbing practice, a cop in Udalguri is working hard to turn the tide.In a unique initiative aimed at promoting the habit of reading among the public, Udalguri police station OC Manujjal Gogoi has established an open library within the premises of the station. The initiative seeks to create a constructive and welcoming environment for people visiting the police station.The open library has been set up in an accessible area of the station, so that visitors, complainants and even police personnel can make use of it. “People who come to the station often have to wait for procedures related to complaints, verification or documentation and the library provides them with an opportunity to spend time reading,” said Gogoi.The open library, which took two years to complete, now houses over 900 books in Bodo, Assamese, Hindi, and English languages. Gogoi said most of the books were sourced from various book fairs, which he personally visited to collect the books.“Some books were purchased from fairs and the others were ordered from stores in Panbazar based on a specific list,” he said.The collection includes works by Lakshminath Bezbarua, Mamoni Raisom Goswami, and Birinchi Kumar Barua. It also features many books on Bhupen Hazarika and Zubeen Garg.Udalguri SP Padmanabh Baruah, who inaugurated the library, emphasised that the open library is an attempt to help bring Assam Police closer to the public. “By setting up libraries and child and female-friendly rooms, we want to make people feel unafraid of entering a police station,” Baruah said.