CM Stalin opens mega book park at Chennai Central Metro station

As part of the efforts to bring books closer to the public, CM M K Stalin on Tuesday inaugurated a mega book park set up by Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation (TNTB&ESC) at a cost of Rs 1.85 crore at the Chennai Central Metro station. To encourage early footfall and purchases, books other than school textbooks are also being sold at 10% discount at present.

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Spread across 5,000 sqft, the book park features stalls by publishers in multiple languages, a cafeteria, a reading area, and a mini hall to host book release events. Designed to accommodate about 10 readers at a time, the park will house 5,000 titles and 15,000 books. The TNTB&ESC will pay the rent for the space to the Chennai Metro Rail Limited, while the private publishers who have stalls will share their revenue with the corporation, said T Sankara Saravanan, joint director of Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation.

Officials said the Central Metro Station was chosen as it has high footfall, and TNTB&ESC will decide on establishing more such book parks. This initiative is part of the efforts by the school education department to improve the reading habit among the general public.