Books, books, books. I feel like I have so many, and yet so little. Well, I grew up in a house full of books - mostly dad's collection from his childhood days. There were all sorts of them - storybooks, books with essays, books on history, mythology, etc. I spent time reading tales of adventure, fairy tales, horror and mystery. Ahhh- those were great times when I could keep reading to my heart's delight.

Over the years, I have of course acquired many more books but the desirefor more is always there. After all, there is a limit to what you can buy or keep. One has to have the money to buy them, the space to keep them and the time to care for them. How I longed that there would be a nice children's library with all my favorite books in stock! At the same time, I felt how difficult it is for anybody to make and run such a library. In modern times, who has the space and time to do all this?

And then suddenly an idea came to me. It is indeed possible to have a good library without the requirement of much space. All one needs is a number of book owners who are willing to lend out their books.

It can work like this: My books remain with me. Your books stay in your home. A central database is kept which keeps track of all the books available from the members' own libraries, with their location. Anyone wishing to borrow a book will contact the database person (it could very well be the Mustard Seeds Library!), who then contacts you or me to get the book. The borrower and the lender need not even know each other! All that needs be ensured is that the book in question is handled properly, and returned on time. There may be some other details to sort out but this is definitely an idea booklovers might like to try at MSL or on their own with their own circle of friends.

Just imagine how large this virtual library can become if you just have the MSL members themselves as participants! Each member has access to all the other's books - without having to find a big place to keep them all!

By Pradeep Parekh