Bhubaneswar, Dec. 13: After touring the state in a van customised into a mini library, two bibliophiles from the city are now set to travel the country.

But this time, their journey is on a larger scale.

The duo - Akshaya Kumar Rautray, 34, and Satabdi Mishra, 32 - will travel 20 states in 90 days in a mini truck that has been transformed into a mobile library. During their 10,000km journey, the duo will conduct small book fairs at various schools, colleges, universities and other public places to promote the habit of reading among the children and adults.

Rautray and Mishra will embark on their journey from Tuesday.

The duo today parked their vehicle at various places in the city for people to read and buy books at a discounted rate. They will conduct similar sessions tomorrow.

"Visitors can either buy books at 20 per cent discount or just go through them. The main focus is to acquaint them with the pleasures of reading," said Rautray.

Their vehicle has been customised for the trip. Small shelves have been built to keep books. The two will carry about 4,000 books with them, including classics, bestsellers, fictions and non-fictions in various regional languages and English, with focus on children's novels.

Publishing houses such as HarperCollins India, Pan Macmillan India and Parragon Publishers are supporting the initiative.

"Good books should reach out to the various corners of the country. So, we thought of reaching out to the grassroots level and promoting reading habits among the people, especially the young folks," said Rautray.

Mishra will occupy the driver's seat throughout their trip. "I love to ride and this is for a cause, so the happiness has doubled. We are carrying a number of necessary items such as GPS devices and solar lights to make travel easier," she said.

The duo had launched the Walking Book Fair last year to promote reading, watching movies and photography among the people in cities and remote villages of the state.