Famous American author, Stephen King has said, “Books are uniquely portable magic.” And, that magic is irreplaceable by any other means, be it television, internet or movies.

With the digital era influencing each and every part of our lives right from education to entertainment, there are no prizes for guessing the impact of the internet on the lives of the readers. With the increasing demand and adoration of the digital devices among all ages, and especially youth and children, it may be tempting to assume that the books will become obsolete altogether with time.

However, the magical world of books is so intense and fascinating that it is not only difficult, but impossible to replace these storehouses of engaging stories, fiction and knowledge. Books offer such an amazing world of captivating imagination that is enriching and relaxing at the same time that their appeal is unmatched on any other platform.

Right from the beginning, books play a very significant role in our lives. For a kid, even before he starts school education, a lot of the outside world is brought to his table through the colourful pages of a book. In most cases, a child gets to realize more than his immediate surroundings and people without being directly fed about it through the imagination that naturally develops in him while going through the pages of a book. It is one of the best tools that can help in the cognitive development of a child. It also allows the child to think and draw inferences individually and uniquely, and enables him to apply the ideas in real-life situations. So, books are much ahead of the digital media where we are just viewing and not imagining as much.

Reading books is not just about gaining information; it’s also about developing the aesthetic sense. Books help in developing the overall personality of the reader, and in this age when we talk about the indispensable 21^st Century Skills, the relevance of these wonderful treasures can never be overstated. Be it enhancing the vocabulary or working on the attention span, organizing the ideas or communicating better, strengthening comprehension or increasing memory retention, books play a vital role in grooming us altogether.

Apart from the scientifically proven damaging effects on our overall health, we also need a digital break as fatigue is bound to set in with incessant exploitation of the digital platforms. Books come to our rescue in such times; they give us a sense of relief and freedom without adversely affecting our physical and mental health.

For all these and much more, books definitely hold a very special place in our hearts and our homes. The belongingness that these physical books can bring to us, is simply absent in the tech-driven digital world. Our bookshelves are an extension of our own personality and mark our internal journey and evolution. These tangible tools, that shape us and our ideologies, foster a feeling of accomplishment and become our treasured possessions.

At DPVN, Belapur, the learners get the required encouragement to awaken the reader in them, and the perfect environment to nurture the habit of reading. With the help of our state-of-the-art infrastructure that includes an extremely well-stocked library catering to the needs and taste of the learners of various ages, and multiple engaging activities incorporated in our comprehensive curriculum, we aim to promote an ecosystem that fosters reading among learners of all age-groups, and make them value the tactile and intense interaction with books.

In the end, we must always remember, “Books are your best friends; you can take them anywhere, and they can take you everywhere.”