Chennai: Want to clear up space on your bookshelf but don’t know where to donate? The Sumanasa Foundation and Project 39A, in collaboration with Nam Veedu Nam Oor Nam Kadhai, are organising a book donation drive for inmates at Puzhal Prison. Book lovers can contribute fiction, non-fiction, and engaging reads.
Launched in 2023 as part of the Art in Prison programme, these organisations have been working with inmates, teaching them visual arts, fine arts, and music. “The goal is to keep prisoners productively engaged while exposing them to various art forms. The prison has a school and library that need books, and this donation drive aims to help inmates broaden their horizons and develop a reading habit,” says Rahimunisa Begam, project coordinator.
Donations can be made at Madras Literary Society, Thousand Lights, until Feb 28, from 10.30am to 4.30pm, with dictionaries, atlases, magazines, newspapers and textbooks not accepted, the organisers said.
In addition to the book drive, Art in Prison is also hosting a series of public events at the Madras Literary Society, featuring facilitators who conducted classes for inmates at Puzhal. The lineup includes a musical play, ‘Sangeetha Paithiyam’, on Feb 15, followed by performances such as parai, gaana, Carnatic, and light music on March 1, and a linocut workshop scheduled for March 15. All these events are free of cost and are aimed at providing an opportunity for the public to engage with the initiative while supporting rehabilitation of inmates through power of art and literature.