The Odisha Society of the Americas (OSA) in association with the Bakul Foundation and the Prafulla Pathagara organised an open forum on “Public libraries in Odisha: Vision 2020” at the Bakul library premises here on Tuesday.
Attending the forum, School and Mass Education Minister Debi Prasad Mishra said, “Good libraries are key elements of the Model Schools, which we were developing. We are also thinking of incentivising the teachers who would promote reading habits of children.
The open forum had discussion on the efforts of the organisers to promote, facilitate, advocate and support the best practices and established models for a well-integrated public library system in Odisha by connecting library activists, professionals, enthusiasts, industry experts, academics, and policy makers.
The OSA has also been closely working with the State Government to build Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Enabled Model Public libraries in Odisha.
Culture Department Secretary Manoranjan Panigrahi, MlA Akash DasNayak, Prof Jatin Nayak, Prof Swadhin Pattanayak and Dash Benhur participated in the discussion.
The Open House advocated for the urgent implementation of the Odisha Public library Act of 2001.
OSA president Sushant Satpathy, OSA chairman Nishikant Mishra, Bakul Foundation secretary Sujit Mahapatra, and Bansidhar Acharya also participated.