Shillong, Sept. 23: Books may be considered a man’s best friend and Meghalaya police personnel posted in New Delhi now have access to a “mini-library”, where they can browse in their spare time.

Recently, Meghalaya Police 5th Battalion commandant Francis G. Kharshiing inaugurated the mini-library, the 5th Battalion Book House, to provide some leisure and welfare to personnel who are far away from home.

Besides improving literacy, Kharshiing said the intention of the project is to inculcate the reading habit among the armed personnel.

Short story collections and books on folklore, historical facts, freedom fighters and others in English, Khasi, Garo and Hindi are stored in the library. The battalion has written to all the state houses and bhavans in New Delhi to donate books to promote knowledge about the states.

Since the battalion personnel are deployed all over Delhi, a mobile library has been organised for distribution of books in their respective places of stay, Kharshiing said.

“This project has been a blessing for the personnel where they have been able to improve their knowledge through reading while making proper use of their spare time,” he said.

He also appealed to all book lovers in Meghalaya to donate books to the library, which will go a long way in improving personnel welfare.