Through exchange, books spread the joy of reading at Vishwa Marathi Sammelan

Pune: Shekhar Mahajan (65), an avid reader, did not know what to do with his large collection of books. The book exchange at the Vishwa Marathi Sammelan came to his rescue.
The event, a literary celebration at Fergusson College, saw over 30,000 books being exchanged over the course of three days.
The concept of book exchange has been in practice by the Pai-Friend Library in Dombivli for the last eight years but was introduced in the city for the first time.
Pundalik Pai, founder of the library, told TOI that the primary objective is to encourage a reading habit among people. Readers can share books they have already read and, in return, receive new ones.
"For instance, if an individual brings five books, they can take five new books from the stall at no cost, apart from a handling fee of Rs10 per book. Since it was a Marathi Sammelan, exchanges of only Marathi language books were permitted," said Pai.
Mahajan said, "It is impossible to throw away books that have provided life lessons, so I kept all these books for years. At the same time, I wanted to pass them on to others so they could also learn from them. However, you cannot simply give away books unless someone is genuinely interested in them. I exchanged my books and received a new set in return. My books are now in safe hands and I hope someone has taken them for reading."
Pai mentioned that they received an unprecedented response at the literary festival and have received numerous requests to organise similar exchanges in different parts of the state.
The journey of the books, Pai said, began in 1987 in Dombivli, starting with a modest 200sqft space and a collection of just 100 books. Now, his collection has grown to 4,50,000 books in various languages.
Pai, to promote reading habits, has been organising themed book fairs. "We have hosted various events over the past few years. On World Book Day (April 23) last year, we organised a book fair along a 300m stretch and displayed over one lakh books in various languages. The event received an overwhelming response," he said.
Visitors to the stall at the literary fest enjoyed the variety of genres available, including some out-of-print books.
Retired govt official Satish Kulkarni expressed his excitement and said, "I found four novels that I could not locate in bookstores as their printing stopped in the '90s. It was a great gift for me."
"One of the challenges we face with this initiative is eliminating pirated books," explained Sanket Pai, stall manager in Pune.
For many visitors, the experience was eye-opening, showcasing the vast variety of books and the community's interest in reading. Book lover Chandrakant Burate said, "I was under the impression that people no longer read Marathi literature. However, I was surprised to see the interest, especially among young people."
Artist Sunil Gham emphasised the importance of such initiatives. "We struggle to find a good collection of Marathi books in bookstores. This initiative highlighted a range of books that are out of publication," Gham said.
"The most soothing sight for me is to see books in the hands of visitors. In the last three days, thousands of them spent their time at the stall and discussed books. That's the power of reading," Pai said.