Sri Lankans make temporary library at presidential secretariat to turn books as ‘weapons’ of change

Turning to books as ‘weapons’ of change, Sri Lankan protesters have installed a makeshift library at the presidential secretariat in Colombo.

At the entrance of the library hangs a signboard that reads: “Books are the greatest weapon in the People’s Revolution.”

The idea of the library came from a social media post in which the idea of bringing books to the protest was shared, according to one of the library’s first volunteers Ashan Vimukthi.

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He told Arab News that “What we felt was that mainstream media and politicians had taken control of people’s minds and were influencing their thoughts. Our goal is to free people from those influences.”

“If we can get people to start thinking on their own, that would be one of our greatest victories,” he added.

Although the library is makeshift but it is well-run as well as organised and has received over 30,000 books from donations.

“We even had a guy come and make bookshelves for us,” Vimukthi said.

“We had posted on social media about how some of the books had got wet in the rain, and a man spend his own money on pallets, brought them here, and quickly built us a few bookshelves and left.”

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Borrowers are requested to replace it with another book even though they can be borrowed without registration.

After storming his home, Sri Lankan protesters refused to budge from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's residence which forced him to flee with the navy and announce his resignation.

In hopes of spurring defiance through reading, youngsters in Sri Lanka had set up a library at the main protest site as well.

(With inputs from agencies)

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