Online library stall a hit in Kolkata Book Fair

People of all ages in large numbers are thronging the stall of an online library in the 43rd International Kolkata Fair to download books of their choice for free.

The National Digital Library of India (NDLI) stall enables visitors to log in via computers or install its app on smartphones and read the free contents.

"If you go to any other stall, you might be buying one or two books according to your budget. The best part of our stall is that you can walk in without a paisa in your pocket and take home as many books as you want at the click of a button," Bibhas Samanta from Team NDLI said at the stall.

A visitor can access 1.5 crore contents hosted by the NDLI in over 300 languages in various formats - text, audio and video.

"Download any number of your favourite books for free, using QR codes," one of those manning the stall at the book fair said Tuesday.

The NDLI was sponsored by the Union Human Resources Development Ministry and developed by the IIT Kharagpur.

-PTI