By R.Swathi
On Apr.9, 11-year-old Charumathi, a student of Bala Vidhya Mandir, Gandhi Nagar, hurriedly walked into Writer’s Cafe, Adyar, to explore new books. Her face lit up when she found titles she had long longed for — all thanks to a heartwarming initiative launched by friends Jaya Mahbubani and Shalini Khanna, called ‘Take One – Leave One’ (ToLo).
ToLo is a free book exchange initiative launched during the pandemic and now boasts of a corner at many cafes and places of leisure. “I am on the committee at the Madras Literary Society. During the pandemic, many people sent me many books, and soon my house was overflowing with them. That was when I thought of introducing ToLo, a practice I have witnessed in California and Dubai, as well as at the Goethe Institute, where I was a teacher. ToLo is a place where one could exchange books for free, without obligations,” explains Jaya.
As a thankful Charumathi takes leave, Weena Pradhan, from Team ToLo, explains that next time she comes, she can bring books that she has read beyond content and drop them here. ToLo, as the name suggests, encourages readers to bring the books that they are ready to part with, drop them at any of their associated cafe corners and take another book with them. There is no restriction on the genre or the number of books that one can drop off or collect.
Jaya explains that the concept has been welcomed with open arms by many places, including Writer’s Cafe and Boat Club. “At many places, we have been given very prominent and beautifully designed corners. At Writer’s Cafe – in both Egmore and Adyar, we have been given a full room for ToLo. It is gladdening to see many people picking books from there,” gleams Shalini.
Team ToLo regularly visit the centres to check on the new books. As Jaya stamps the new books with a special ‘ToLo’ stamp, she explains, “This stamp is a symbol that the book has been picked from this initiative. And our hearts are filled with joy when we get to stamp upmteen books every time we come here! It shows that the joy of reading hasn’t yet extinguished!”
In the spirit of book celebration, initiatives such as ToLo, are a beacon of hope that the passion for reading remains alive and kicking, uniting people one book at a time.
Checkout TOLO in the neighbourhood at Writer’s Cafe (Adyar), Ciclo Cafe (Kotturpuram), Intercontinental (ECR). Check out more about them on Instagram (tolo_chennai).
