What’s the point of having books if you can’t share them with people?” asks Mather, a 26-year-old educator who opened a free online library less than a month ago.

What’s the point of having books if you can’t share them with people?” asks Mather, a 26-year-old educator who opened a free online library less than a month ago.Called Open House Library, it was her lifelong dream, and reminiscent of the way she accessed and read books as a child. “When I was in school, we had limited access to books, and my classmates and I would circulate the few books we owned amongst ourselves. Sometimes, if you had signed up for a book, it would take a whole year to reach you after everyone else had their turn reading it,” she recalls.Nevertheless, it was an enriching experience that familiarised her with series such as ‘Percy Jackson’, ‘The Hunger Games’, ‘The Heroes of Olympus’, ‘Geronimo Stilton’, and ‘Malory Towers’, among others. “So once I was able to start collecting books for myself, I knew that in some capacity I wanted to eventually make all of my books available to people who aren’t able to buy them,” she notes.A total of around 500 titles are available on the library’s website. As it is primarily her personal collection, the curation is a reflection of her own preferences. Popular genres like romance and fantasy are hard to find. Instead, one can browse through books that fall under categories such as literary fiction, classics, modern classics, translated works from around the world, and feminist, queer and anti-caste writing.Some of the popular titles include ‘1984’ by George Orwell, ‘Anxious People’ by Fredrik Backman, and ‘Blue Sisters’ by Coco Mellors.However, what sets her collection apart is the number of rare finds. “They are either unavailable in India or sell for over Rs 1,500,” she notes. These books include ‘Bad Habit’ by Alana Portero, which is translated from Spanish and revolves around a trans woman coming of age in Madrid in the 1980s and 1990s. ‘Bolder’ by Eva Baltasar is translated from Catalan and tells the story of a queer woman and her relationship with maternity. ‘Goodlord: An Email’ by Ella Frears is an epistolary novel in which a woman is corresponding with her landlord. ‘Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day’ by Winifred Watson is from a publishing house that focuses on reprinting forgotten classics.One can sign up to become a member through a form available on the website. After the membership is accepted, users can browse through the books online and click on ‘place hold’ to borrow a book. If this book is available, they can either have it delivered or pick it up from Mather’s home.To learn more, look up libib.com/u/openhouselibrary260923-2-798905854

Source: Deccan Herald