Bengaluru, KARNATAKA :
‘Read a Book Challenge’
How would you like to receive a surprise package of books, hand picked specially for you, at your doorstep every month? An initiative of Mohammed Musab, a fresh BBA graduate and his friends, ‘Read a Book Challenge’ is giving bookworms in the city a new excuse to curl up in bed and stay put.
Readers who register for the challenge on their Facebook page will receive three to four books, beautifully packaged along with a handwritten personal note. At the end of the month, the books are collected and a new package of surprise titles is delivered.
“I have been an avid reader from childhood and I used to tell my friends in college to develop the habit of reading. They told me that they couldn’t decide what to read. So I recommended books for them,” said Musab. That was how the idea behind the challenge came to him and he decided to give it a shot.
The first step was to convince ‘endorsers’ to let him lend their books to strangers. “Book-lovers are very possessive about their collections. I had to assure them that I would take care of their books,” he added. Besides, he offered them the incentive of earning money through their books. After the first month, the readers are charged a nominal amount of Rs 150 which is used to cover costs and pay the endorser between Rs 15 and Rs 20 for each book lent. “I really liked the idea and my book collection was lying idle at home. Being an avid reader myself, I saw this as a chance to help people inculcate the habit of reading,” said Mohammed Shuaib Mumtaz, the first endorser who has contributed 150 books to the inventory. Musab got his friends on board — Sneh Jain designs the packaging, Hayatt Noorul makes promotional videos and posters and Rishav Jain and Smriti Menon help with the execution. The team delivered the first batch of books on June 15. Already, they have over 100 readers and 10 endorsers on board contributing over 2,500 books to their inventory.
Word of their initiative spread and people in Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and even Srinagar have requested them to bring the challenge to their cities. Though most of their readers are in the age group of 20 to 23, now even parents are showing interest.
Having received two packages so far, Ayesha Shuaib is happy with the variety her nine-year-old son is being exposed to. “He has got books on the themes of adventure, mystery and school amongst others. As a parent, it is a great relief for me because I don’t have to make multiple trips to the library to keep him engaged,” she said.
Monthly surprises
Meanwhile, they are preparing to deliver monthly surprises to their growing number of readers. An engineer is helping them develop a website and software to manage the inventory. They are also in the process of developing an algorithm to automatically select books based on the readers’ preference.
“I have received offers from investors. However, I haven’t accepted any for now because I am not sure what I am dealing with. I don’t know if this is going to be a small startup or the next big thing so I want to let it grow slowly,” said Musab.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> City / DHNS / Meghana Choukkar / Bengaluru, DHNS – July 29th, 2016