A public library in Anakkampoyil village of Kozhikode has earned the title of being the first library in the district to have a solar-powered digital hub with computers to help rural readers step into the world of digitalised learning environment. The facility aimed at reducing the digital divide the green way will be thrown open to villagers on Sunday.
The project, which was designed to meet the complete power requirements of the library building through renewable energy, becomes a reality with the support of a group of students from the National Institute of Technology, Calicut (NIT-C), who worked in association with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The V.K. Krishna Menon Public Library got ₹3.1 lakh for the upgrade.
K.V. Shihabudheen, IEEE’s student branch counsellor at the NIT-C, says the project sanctioned by the IEEE’s International Humanitarian Activities Commission will transform the rural library into a green energy zone. Four computers and an all-in-one printer have been arranged here which will function with the support of open source software, he adds.
Thiruvambady MLA Linto Joseph will open the digital hub on Sunday. NIT-C Director Prasad Krishna, IEEE’s Kerala section chairperson S. Mohammad Kasim, NIT-C’s Centre for Career Development chairperson Praveen Sankaran, and former MLA George M. Thomas will address the event.
