Paulo Coelho asks fans to send books to Balochistan

International best-selling author Paulo Coelho on Monday asked his fans and readers to send books to Balochistan, Pakistan after reading news reports about rooms being built in the province to help students.

“Send books to Balochistan, they’re building reading rooms,” the author shared in a tweet on the micro-blogging social media platform Twitter.

The tweet was in support of Baloch locals who have set single-room libraries in different cities across Balochistan including Naal, Wadh, Awaran, Quetta, Kohlu and Turbat. The libraries are meant to help students access books with ease and allow them to read without any hindrances of money or accessibility.

The effort to fill up these libraries began with a student who ran a social media campaign to set up room libraries as they were unable to travel to purchase books from major urban cities.

Sikander Bizenjo of Balochistan Youth against Coronavirus (BYAC) realized the need for this and issued a call on social media to collect books. Speaking to a local news agency, he said “We started this initiative with affiliation of Global Shapers Karachi to offer food and support to rural villages in Balochistan that were adversely affected by the pandemic and the lockdown. Soon we began offering support to medical doctors and frontline staff and then gradually to essential workers those in banks etc. We’d collect donations and protective units and kits to distribute them amid these professionals.”

“We noticed these libraries and reading centers have no government or official support, and thought of donating books to them. We found out what kind of books are required in libraries in Awaran, Wadh, Turbat to collect what they need,” he added.

You can also contribute books to these libraries. In order to do so, you can contact Sikander Bizenjo using his Twitter handle @sikanderbizenjo to reach him.