1. The story of saving a Chennai Library, one book at a time Save Chennai Libraries

2. What is Save Chennai Libraries? A group that collected 3500 new + old books for a flood ravaged district library in 2 months Not a structured organization but a loose bunch of twitter friends Run purely through social media & weekend volunteering

3. How did it start?

4. Five Chennai District Libraries were completely damaged in the disastrous flood of December 2015 Heard through twitter; Organized a team online

5. How bad was the damage? Over 5 Lac books damaged across libraries – District Library Office Ashok Nagar District Central Library ◦ Lost over 1.5 Lac books Largest District Central Library in the state ◦ 17000 members ◦ 500 book borrowings on average

6. “We need hope. Once there are books on the shelves again, we can find the hope to rebuild further.”

7. Empty Shelves awaiting books

8. How to - Restock library with items from its original catalogue? Manage a disparate group of people assembled online? Manage logistics of collecting and delivering books to the library?

9. The Age of Social Media Spread the word Ask for help Follow-up on responses Rinse and Repeat

10. How to build a book collection? Curate Titles No cash donation – Direct link to online stores/publishers To Keep or to Discard  Supreme Conflict

11. Curate Titles

12. To Keep or Discard

13. Stories within a Story Karthika / Mala Balaji C.S. Raju / Kumaravel Donations from Writers & Publishers

14. Some Stats 2 months: Dec 22, 2015 – Feb 22, 2016 3500 books – old + new Handpicked New books worth Rs. 3 Lac (Old books priceless!)

15. The Save Chennai Libraries Shelves We started out with just a hope and belief. Two months later, we are overwhelmed by the results.

16. Thank you Thank you