Imagine sipping a warm cup of coffee while diving into your favorite book—soon, Delhi will have more spaces where you can do just that! Four new libraries with cafés are set to open by May.
BY PC Bureau
New Delhi, April 3, 2025: Book lovers and students in Delhi are in for a treat! Following the tremendous response to Aarambh Pustakalaya in Old Rajendra Nagar, four more libraries—complete with cozy reading spaces and cafés—will open in Adhchini, Dwarka, Vikaspuri, and Rohini by May this year.
At a recent review meeting, Delhi LG VK Saxena was informed that Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is expanding the Rajendra Nagar library while speeding up work on the new locations. The initiative aims to provide more places where people can relax with a book and a warm cup of tea or coffee.
The first Aarambh Pustakalaya, which opened on January 5, 2025, has been a huge hit, with all 60 seats fully booked in rotating 8-hour shifts. Its on-site café has made it a popular spot for students and bibliophiles alike. The growing demand has prompted DDA to expand its capacity and replicate the model in other student-dense areas.
Delhi LG VK Saxena: The man behind the library mission
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Each of the new libraries will be open 24×7 and offer cozy seating, a café, lockers, power outlets, newspapers, magazines, and separate restrooms. Whether you’re preparing for exams, working remotely, or simply looking for a peaceful corner to read, these new spaces promise to be the perfect blend of study, coffee, and community.
The LG had asked DDA to provide library and reading room facilities to students, in the wake of the tragic incident of loss of three young lives due to drowning in the basement reading room of a private coaching centre in Rajendra Nagar in July last year.
Saxena, who had visited the site immediately in the aftermath of the tragedy, met the protesting students there and assured them that he will do everything possible to address the issue of exploitative reading room facilities and charges being faced by them, at the earliest.
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The Lt Governor had thereafter convened a meeting with the officers of DDA and asked them to identify community centres inside or close to the students’ hubs spread across the city, that could be converted into libraries / reading rooms for use by students.
With Delhi set to welcome more warm, book-filled spaces, the city is well on its way to becoming a haven for readers and thinkers alike.
